The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that malaria deaths could double during COVID-19 pandemic as access to anti-malaria nets and drugs is disrupted, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where nearly 95 percent of all the worldโs malaria cases and deaths occur. WHO then calls for the urgent distribution of malaria prevention and treatment tools in sub-Saharan Africa countries before they become overwhelmed with novel coronavirus cases.
Malaria was once a scourge in the Province of Agusan del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines. The province was categorized as number one among the Category A (5-year average > 1000 cases per year) provinces in terms of number of malaria cases and ranked number one in Caraga Region based on 1992-1998 data from the Department of Health (DOH). Indeed, the confirmed malaria cases in Agusan del Sur reached as high as 4,359 in 1997; averaging 2,838 annually from 1995 to 2000. But in 2018, Agusan del Sur was declared as Malaria-Freeย by the DOH.
What were done in Agusan del Sur to attain the malaria-free status are encapsulated in the book titled FINDING AND FUNDING MEANS: Beyond the Elimination of Malaria in Agusan del Sur.ย Dr. Rex T. Linao, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Development of Agusanons, Inc. (FDAI) opines that malaria control and prevention, elimination, and eradication stakeholders can learn several lessons from the Agusan del Sur experiences. Hence the decision to share two important materials that FDAI produced: a book and a video (n.b. for longer version of the video, please email to hello@fdai.ph).
https://fdai.ph/dev/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Finding-and-Funding-Means_FDAI.pdf
Dr. Linao agrees with WHO that long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and antimalarial medicines play important roles in the control and prevention, elimination, and eradication of malaria. He maintains though that local community mobilization and capacity-building of barangay health workers should become primordial part of the overall malaria control and prevention, elimination, and eradication approaches. Such is the most important lesson that Agusan del Sur wants to impart to the rest of the world.
