Zambia, Zimbabwe launch initiative to eliminate malaria

A regional initiative that aims to eliminate malaria in the Zambezi valley was launched Thursday by Zambia and Zimbabwe, with support from the Global Fund toFight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

As a the two countries joined the rest of the world in commemorating an International Malaria day on April 25, 2013, a cross-border malaria initiative aimed at eliminating the disease among communities living on border areas along banks of the Zambezi River was launched.

The initiative launched between Zambia and Zimbabwe involves harmonisation of policies and joint coordination.

Health Minister Joseph Kasonde and Zimbabwe Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare Douglas Mombeshora launched the historical initiative in Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe.

Dr Kasonde said the initiative would act as a catalyst for other initiatives which had been formed but had not formalised operations across borders.

According to epidemiological set up, Southern Province of Zambia falls under category two among areas where sustained malaria prevention and control has reduced transmission.

Dr Kasonde said cross-border initiatives were not stand-alone activities but complimented national efforts to control and eliminate malaria.

Dr Mombeshora said at the same function that he was hopeful that the Zambia-Zimbabwe Cross Border Malaria Initiative would succeed.

He said the joint coordination of malaria control would accelerate reduction of malaria transmission among the border communities and contribute significantly towards malaria elimination.

The Zambezi River, which forms a long border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, is a source of livelihood for the communities along its basin but it is also a source of malaria infection as it supports
conditions for the malaria vectors.

African countries face a $7-billion funding gap to control and eliminate malaria. Every year 660,000 people die from malaria, and 90 percent of those deaths are in Africa.

Eliminating malaria by 2015 is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. But an estimated $26.9 billion is needed in the next three years to reach the goal.

Malaria deaths have decreased to an average of about 33 percent on the African continent. But scientists expect that shortages in funding for control interventions could quickly turn around those results