The WHO makes the anti malaria struggle in DRC a collective warhorse

Some 71% of people that die every year of the malaria in the world are children under 5 years and between 10 to 13% of the maternal mortality are attributable to malaria. Africa counts for 86% of all victims of this disease.
80% of the regions undergoing major political crises or in conflict are malaria endemic because, these countries usually experience massive movements of population, decay or absence of sanitary structures, malnutrition, deterioration of the environment. These are some factors that increase the risks of infection. In the DRC, last year 200.000 people died of malaria.

The WHO, has fielded Dr Richard Allan to Kinshasa, the coordinator of the program « Roll back malaria ». This program consists in a world partnership that has an objective to reduce about 50% the burden that the malaria constitutes in the world from the year 2010 on, through targeted interventions and the backing of the local health systems. This strategy has been established by the governments of countries exposed to malaria, WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and the World Bank.

The method is essentially founded on the setting up of a network of experts in conjunction with NGOs intervening in the field, the concerned governmental ministries, the private sector and the specialized United Nations agencies. The DRC is part of the 16 countries considered a priority for this plan of action, and each of the provinces should contribute to a national data collection about the chimio-sensitivity and the various patterns of resistance. The sites suggested in a first time - but susceptible to change according to the propositions of the Agencies and the NGOs in the field - are Kinshasa, Kimpese (Bas Congo), Kananga, Vanga (Bandundu), Lubumbashi, Kalima (Maniema) and Kirama (Ecuador).

The meeting, organized by OCHA on demand of the WHO, gathered NGOs and various partners, was destined to start a partnership between all stakeholders in the DRC, in order to accomplish the necessary data collection from November. The means to achieve this goal amount to the presence of a physician, a very efficient laboratory technician, and patients that will be able to be followed throughout a set of consultations (relatively steady environment for some weeks). In this context of big volatility, the patients will receive remedies supposed to act very quickly. Also, on demand, a specialist could be sent for particularly singular or informative cases.

Otherwise, Dr Allan announced the existence of some measures to dam up this disease . The treatment since the appearance of first symptoms would reduce the risk of mortality by 50%, combination of therapies would permit to delay the effects of resistance to the treatment, pretreated screens would decrease the mortality by 20%. Other specific and innovative measures such as pretreated shelters against the mosquitoes and intended to the refugee camps have been evoked also.

In response to arguments stating that the priority currently in DRC for the war affected population was the access to food and to the urgent health care, Dr Allan indicated that the two interventions were not incompatible ; It remains possible even in periods of emergency to lead actions of prevention and treatment of the malaria in order to save lives.

Finally the success of such a program would depend extensively on the cooperation of all partners in the field, and especially on a good integration of this program in the setting of emergency interventions.