Malaria Day Message by Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Malaria Day Message by Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy
Guyana Chronicle, 6 November 2007
TODAY, November 6th is the 5th observance of Guyana’s Malaria Day. It
is also the first time that we observe this day as the Malaria Day of
the Americas. We are thrilled that Guyana has led the way to highlight
this very important public health problem in the Americas. The need to
have a day in which global attention is focused on malaria to remind
everyone of how much of a scourge malaria is underlined by the fact
that malaria kills more than 1.5M persons each year. Indeed, between
300 and 500M persons are infected with malaria each year.

This year as we observe Malaria Day, I want to acknowledge the work of
health workers everywhere, but particularly those in Regions 1, 7, 8
and 9. The health workers in the areas affected by malaria have been in
the frontlines of the battle against malaria. The successes that Guyana
have had in recent years in the fight against malaria resulted from the
commitment of the health workers who have had to confront this
dangerous disease upfront and close. They deserve our greatest tribute
and they deserve our gratitude.

No one can deny the major successes of the malaria programme. As we
entered the 1990s, Guyana recorded close to 90,000 cases of malaria per
year. That was a time when the information system was mostly
inefficient and under-reporting was significant. Thus, it is reasonable
to conclude that by the 1990s, Guyana had exceeded an annual incidence
of more than 100,000 malaria cases. Last year, we recorded just over
20,000 cases and we are convinced that the information system works
with greater efficiency and, therefore, we are confident that the
numbers represent the truth. In 2007, so far, we have recorded just
8,499 cases by the end of the first week of October. We are, thus, on
target of recording less than 15,000 cases this year, the goal that we
had established for 2007.

This is a genuine Guyanese success story. But this success only must
whet our appetite for greater success. It is in this spirit that as
Minister of Health, I use the occasion of Malaria Day of the Americas
to pronounce on the 2008 target. The Ministry of Health would intensify
further our efforts so that we could reduce malaria further to less
than 10,000 cases in 2008. In 2001, we had established this goal as
where we ought to be in 2010. But now the Ministry of Health, having
proven that we can prevent malaria, armed with proven tools, such as
Coartem for treatment of Plasmodium falciparum, Long-Lasting
Impregnated Nets and better trained health workers, now has moved up
our 2010 target to 2008 and have adjusted the 2010 target to less than
5,000 cases.

There are two months to go for this year and, in spite of our
successes, there are certain hot spots in each region where malaria is
significant. For example, in Region 1, Port Kaituma, Arakaka and
Matthew’s Ridge and Baramita, are hotspots. Other regions similarly
have hotspots. I have instructed the malaria unit to identify the
hotspots in each Region and ensure that mass smear exercises to find
all infected cases and provide treatment are implemented with immediate
effect.

Malaria is preventable. We have proven that. Malaria is treatable. We
have abundant evidence of this fact. Armed with these unassailable
facts, we must take even bolder steps, set more ambitious goals and
then work collectively to ensure success. I believe that the more
ambitious goal must be to eliminate malaria and I end this message by
committing Guyana to achieving the elimination goal of less than one
case per 1,000 persons. I believe that this goal is achievable by 2015.