Malaria can't be eradicated if we don't develop -- Prof Chilengi

By MUBITA KATETE

HEALTH Minister Professor Roma Chilengi has warned that malaria will continue recurring unless governments address poverty and underdevelopment, saying sustainable economic and community development is critical to achieving lasting elimination of the disease.

Prof Chilengi said while improved surveillance, effective treatment and targeted interventions were important in controlling malaria, such measures would not guarantee lasting success if communities continued living in conditions that encouraged transmission.

He was speaking at a High-Level Dialogue on Malaria Elimination in Gaborone, Botswana, where he represented President Hakainde Hichilema at a meeting officiated by Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko.

During a ministerial discussion on alignment, delivery and resilience, Prof Chilengi said countries that had successfully eliminated malaria shared a common experience of sustained development.

"Malaria goes away when we develop. So, while we focus on these interventions, enhanced surveillance and improved case management, we only do those to relieve ourselves, but to fight again," he said.

He observed that the historical spread of malaria across the world was closely linked to poverty, making improved living conditions an important part of the fight against the disease.

Prof Chilengi warned that malaria could resurface whenever governments experienced financial or environmental challenges if the underlying conditions that supported transmission remained unchanged.

He said governments should therefore go beyond treating malaria cases and invest in community development to ensure that progress made in controlling the disease was sustained.

Prof Chilengi also called for stronger surveillance systems to ensure early detection and prompt treatment of malaria cases, particularly in areas where transmission remained high.

He said identifying and treating infected individuals was essential in preventing mosquitoes from spreading the disease to other people.

Prof Chilengi emphasised that sustained investment in health systems, alongside improved living conditions, was necessary to achieve lasting malaria elimination.