Experts call for nationwide campaign to eradicate malaria

Experts at the launch of the malaria communication strategy at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala Wednesday called for interventions, including massive treatment of the population to eradicate the disease.

While the intervention would cost millions, experts said it would diminish the amount of plasmodia in the population, greatly halving incidences.

Dr. Jimmy Opigo, the malaria control programme manager at the health ministry, said the strategy would be the ideal weapon to finally rid the country of the disease.

Some countries in Africa including Ethiopia and Eritrea have already diminished the disease that killed over 40,000 people last year in northern Uganda alone.

"(When fighting malaria), you try to kill the interface between the population and the vector (mosquitos) through use of insecticide treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying and try to 'sanitize' the environment where the vectors breed.

"But when the human is cleaned of the parasite plasmodia, the mosquitos won't have any plasmodia to transmit," the doctor said.

Interventions targeting eradication of malaria causing plasmodia from the human body were used in Europe. Currently, there is no malaria on the continent.

According to the 2014 malaria indicator survey prevalence in Kampala stood at less than one percent, compared to northern Uganda where it stood at 50% in some districts.

But it's not because there are no mosquitoes in Kampala. Rather, it's because of a limited amount of malaria causing parasites in the population in Kampala.