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WHO / MALARIA REPORT
STORY: WHO / MALARIA REPORT
TRT: 2:45
SOURCE: WHO / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 GMT 13 DECEMBER 2016
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 12 DECEMBER 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – APRIL 2014, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
1 Wide shot, women and children in clinic
2. Med shot, mother with her child
3. Med shot, mother with her child and doctor
4. Close up, rapid diagnostic test set
5. Tilt down, doctor preparing the test
6. Close up, blood test
12 DECEMBER 2016, GENEVA, 2016
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Pedro Alonzo Fernandez, Director, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We have seen great progress, particularly in Africa, we have much better coverage of bed-nets to populations at risk, we have much better coverage with drugs to pregnant women to prevent malaria in that group, and thirdly we have much better coverage of rapid diagnostic tests, capacity to diagnose to guide treatment to the sick patients.”
FILE – DECEMBER 2009, CAMBODIA
8. Wide shot, rural area
9. Med shot, bed-nets distribution
10. Close up, baby
11. Med shot, patients ready for a blood test
12. Close up, blood test
13. Various shots, blood test samples
12 DECEMBER 2016, GENEVA, 2016
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Pedro Alonzo Fernandez, Director, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We are making progress in coverage but still we have in excess of 400,000 deaths every year. A child dies every two minutes, in excess of 200 million malaria cases. So the job is far from being completed. We need to be able to close the gap among still a significant percentage of people living in endemic areas that do not have access to our key malaria interventions.”
FILE – AUGUST 2012, HOUNDURAS
15. Close up, mosquito
16. Various shots, researchers analysing mosquitoes
12 DECEMBER 2016, GENEVA, 2016
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Pedro Alonzo Fernandez, Director, Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization (WHO):
“If we want to achieve the goals that the world community has agreed upon, funding becomes critical. The last five years we have seen no increase in the level of funding, be it from international donors or domestic funding from the affected countries themselves. We are not on to achieve our goals unless we increase the amount of resources made available for the fight against malaria.”
FILE – AUGUST 2012, HOUNDURAS
18. Various shots, rural area under heavy rain
19. Various shots, women installing mosquito nets
20. Med shot, mother and child under mosquito net
A new World Health Organization (WHO) report says children and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa have greater access to effective malaria control.
The World Malaria Report 2016 revealed that across the region the region, a steep increase in diagnostic testing for children and preventive treatment for pregnant women has been reported over the last five years. Among all populations at risk of malaria, the use of insecticide-treated nets has expanded rapidly.
WHO’s Director for Global Malaria Programme, Dr. Pedro Alonzo Fernandez, said “we have seen great progress, particularly in Africa, we have much better coverage of bed-nets to populations at risk, we have much better coverage with drugs to pregnant women to prevent malaria in that group, and thirdly we have much better coverage of rapid diagnostic tests, capacity to diagnose to guide treatment to the sick patients.”
But in many countries in the region, substantial gaps in programme coverage remain. Funding shortfalls and fragile health systems are undermining overall progress, jeopardizing the attainment of global targets.
Dr. Fernandez said “we are making progress in coverage but still we have in excess of 400,000 deaths every year. A child dies every two minutes, in excess of 200 million malaria cases. So the job is far from being completed. We need to be able to close the gap among still a significant percentage of people living in endemic areas that do not have access to our key malaria interventions.”
Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 90% of malaria cases and 92% of malaria deaths. Children under five are particularly vulnerable, accounting for an estimated 70% of all malaria deaths.
The WHO’s specialist also said “if we want to achieve the goals that the world community has agreed upon, funding becomes critical. The last five years we have seen no increase in the level of funding, be it from international donors or domestic funding from the affected countries themselves. We are not on to achieve our goals unless we increase the amount of resources made available for the fight against malaria.”
Diagnostic testing enables health providers to rapidly detect malaria and prescribe life-saving treatment. New findings presented in the report show that, in 2015, approximately half (51%) of children with a fever seeking care at a public health facility in 22 African countries received a diagnostic test for malaria compared to 29% in 2010.
To protect women in areas of moderate and high malaria transmission in Africa, WHO recommends “intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy” (ITPp) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. The treatment, administered at each scheduled antenatal care visit after the first trimester, can prevent maternal and infant mortality, anaemia and the other adverse effects of malaria in pregnancy.
According to available data, there was a five-fold increase in the percentage of women receiving the recommended three or more doses of this preventive treatment in 20 African countries. Coverage reached 31% in 2015, up from 6% in 2010.
Insecticide-treated nets are the cornerstone of malaria prevention efforts in Africa. The report found that more than half (53%) of the population at risk in sub-Saharan Africa slept under a treated net in 2015 compared to 30% in 2010.
Malaria remains an acute public health problem, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the report, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths worldwide in 2015.
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