The number of people suffering from malaria has significantly increased in different areas of the country over the past few months. “Saint Joseph” Clinic located in Giheta Commune of Gitega Central Province receives between 50 and 60 patients per day.
Cases of malaria have significantly increased over the past six months
Vital Hatungimana, Director of “Saint Joseph” Clinic says the majority of patients are children under five. “The main causes of malaria increase are the misuse of mosquito nets and malnutrition,” he says adding that they used to receive a dozen patients per day.
He says the figures started to increase in February. “Saint Joseph” Clinic received 664 patients in February. The figures moved from 1,358 patients in May to 1,551 in June.
According to the report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs-OCHA, five million cases of malaria were recorded in the first six months of 2019. “This represents a 97 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018,” reveals the report.
As of the 26th week, 34 health districts have passed the epidemic threshold and seven were above the alert threshold. The figures were provided by the Ministry of Public Health through its epidemiological data.
According to the WHO report issued in April 2019, malaria kills 435,000 people a year, mostly children throughout the world.
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