Dear Editor,
Knowledge is available and anyone can verify that “Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to people through the bites of infected female anopheles mosquitoes. The news is that Guyana is seeking to reduce the mortality rate and the number of cases of malaria in the country by 2025, and this is in keeping with the 2030 target of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide (and) it is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing countries, where young children and pregnant women are the groups most affected. Specifically at the local level, Guyana is targeting a 90 per cent reduction in malaria cases by 2025, as this is the global vision. According to the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, “… the government has strongly embraced the WHO’s targets.” He iterated that “We certainly like to do this much earlier and you have seen from the plan that we have unveiled that we’re trying to get closer to the WHO target for 2030 by 2025, and we strongly believe we can do this with the techniques we’re employing.”
Still with this important local thrust, the Minister detailed that, “Malaria is endemic in Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine, and in some parts of 10, … but we believe that by adopting [a] strong strategy, where we can be more in the community, that we will be able to change this endemic nature of malaria in these regions.” In this vein, the Health Ministry recently collaborated with Harvard University to train laboratory personnel to detect whether the parasite responsible for infecting a person with malaria has become resistant to medication. This Minister noted, “… we have to keep monitoring at this level and this would give us more accurate results about resistance.” In fact, the success of the Ministry’s collaborative intervention was highlighted, as the word is that “… we have been making progress in several areas and this is the kind of collaboration that we’d like to see, not just to be able to do the traditional things, but we want to use innovations that are in the field so that we can improve what we’re doing.”
Editor, I have a word for our miners, since this group is high-risk when it comes to the malaria issue. According to the Ministry of Health, “One of the collaborations we have to build with miners is to make sure that when we finish mining in an area, we fill the areas back up so that we don’t create habitats. These habitats and the breeding sites for mosquito are going to help to endanger you in the long run, especially in that area.” I close with the caution that a healthy body is more productive, and many times, it is simply a matter of personal inoculation and environmental savvy. If the mosquitoes have no habitat, then transmission will be greatly minimised. Note also, too, that gold mining is one of the most important industries in Guyana, as it provides great social and economic benefits to a relatively large number of people. So, to especially our miners, they need to be mindful.
Sincerely,
H. Singh.
