World Malaria Day, 25 April, focused this year on the challenge of achieving universal coverage with essential malaria-control interventions. Here is a story of progress and challenges in Tanzania.
ZANZIBAR CITY, Tanzania, 27 April 2010 - As the world celebrated World Malaria Day this past weekend, some regions reflected on recent strides made toward eradicating the disease. Among the world's malaria success stories is the Island of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, off the coast of eastern Africa.
Malaria was once a leading child killer throughout Tanzania. As in many countries across Africa, it kept clinics and hospitals full, kept sick children out of school and was a major cause of lost productivity among adults.
But over the past 10 years, health authorities in Zanzibar have reduced the region's malaria prevalence to just 1 per cent. UNICEF Radio spoke with Dr. Abdulai Tinorgah, UNICEF Tanzania's Chief of Child Survival and Development, to learn more about Zanzibar's success in malaria prevention.
A multi-strategy approach
There are many reasons for Zanzibar's success, said Dr. Tinorgah. Most importantly, however, was that the region tackled malaria from many angles - using several strategies at once.
"They used insecticide-treated bed nets [and] spraying of insecticide in houses," said Dr. Tinorgah. "They scaled up access to correct treatment together with simple tests for diagnosing malaria, and they also scaled up preventive treatment during pregnancy."
Despite this innovative approach and exceptional progress made, challenges remain in preventing malaria in Zanzibar.
Sustaining Zanzibar's success
In order to maintain the strides made to date, Dr. Tinorgah said that a long-term sustained commitment is needed - including by government, funders and donors. If the current level of funding is not sustained, Zanzibar risks the return of a major malaria epidemic.
"It's important for us to make progress, that we have engagement at the highest levels of commitment to deal with this issue," said Dr. Tinorgah.
On World Malaria Day, high-ranking officials, including the President of Tanzania, participated in the country's celebrations. Zanzibar was spotlighted as a region that has made great progress - and to which the rest of the country must catch up.