Severe malaria cases in Rwanda fell by 38 per cent in two years, the Ministry of Health in the country said in a report.
The health ministry in its annual Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Report said that national malaria incidence reduced from 401 cases per 1,000-person in 2017-2018 fiscal year to 200 cases per 1,000-person in 2019-2020.
According to the report, 4,358 cases of severe malaria were reported at the health facility level compared to 7,054 in 2018-2019.
The report showed that 164 persons, including 41 children, died from severe malaria. 80 per cent of the victims had cerebral malaria.
The decrease in malaria deaths is attributed to home based management interventions, the free treatment of malaria for Ubudehe Categories I and II and the quality of care at health facility level.
There has also been a steady increase of proportion of children under 5 and above plus adults who are seeking care from 13 per cent to 58 per cent in 2015-2016 and 2019-2020 respectively.
“This indicates that interventions such home based treatment of children and adults that contributed to early diagnosis and treatment have been successful in decreasing the number of severe cases and consequently the number of malaria deaths,” the report indicates.
The free treatment of poor people in Ubudehe Category I and II also removed the financial barriers for access to health care.
It costs the government and its partners $2.5 million per year to spray one district while the cost of one treated mosquito net stands at $4. Every two years, 7.5 million nets are procured.
