By Ciku Kimeria
With COVID 19 cases on the continent close to the 1.6 million mark with over 38,500 casualties, the danger the pandemic poses in the continent is clear. Beneath that, though it is easy to underestimate the increased risk the continent faces from one of the very deadly constant killers on the continent – malaria. Malaria is well recognized as a threat to social and economic stability, with 90% of malaria cases concentrated in Sub Saharan Africa resulting in nearly half a million deaths globally every year. According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) study, this year severe disruptions to insecticide-treated net campaigns and access to antimalarial medicines could lead to a doubling in the number of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa compared to 2018. To be precise, in high burden areas, disruptions due to COVID-19 could result in more deaths from Malaria, TB and HIV, than from COVID-19 itself.
Two particular malaria-endemic West African countries are interesting to study in terms of how proactive they are being to avert a disaster. Sierra Leone and Ghana are two of fifteen African countries that as of 2019 have already started implementing their Zero Malaria Starts with me campaigns. The Zero Malaria Starts with Me movement was initially created by Speak up Africa, a Dakar-headquartered, strategic communications and advocacy not for profit organization, and PATH in collaboration with Senegal’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and implemented in Senegal since 2014. The campaign was endorsed by the 55 African heads of state of the African Union in 2018 and is now co-led by the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and the African Union. The campaign focuses on bringing together political, private sector and community engagement to drive towards malaria elimination. Speak up Africa is currently supporting Sierra Leone and Ghana in their implementation plans.
The situation in Sierra Leone is unique as it was one of the three West African countries ravaged by Ebola in 2014-2016 thus providing it with useful lessons now on how to curb the spread of highly infectious diseases, but also meaning that its citizenry might have greater concerns about catching COVID-19 given the memories of Ebola are still fresh in their minds. According to James Wallen, Malaria Program Officer at Speak up Africa, “We have heard of mothers being afraid to take their young children to health centers when they have a fever out of fear of catching COVID-19, thereby potentially leaving them with untreated malaria. While it is hard to know how widespread this is, it is important to mitigate this risk as much as possible.” This is vital given that 70% of malaria deaths are those of children under the age of 5, while the mortality rate from COVID-19 is significantly smaller. In Sierra Leone more than a quarter of the country’s population is infected with malaria at any given time and 4 out of 10 of hospital consultations are for malaria. As such, it’s extremely concerning if people wary of catching COVID-19 stay away from health centers when malaria is in some ways a much more deadly disease.
Despite the pandemic, Sierra Leone successfully distributed 4.6 million bed nets nationwide in May and June while ensuring they provided healthcare workers with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to safely undertake their work and adjusting the distribution strategy to ensure adherence to social distancing guidelines. Life-saving malaria tools such as intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) and seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) have saved millions of lives of pregnant women and children under five in malaria affected countries. Mass bed net distribution campaigns and the ease of access to antimalarial medicines have also played a great role in the fight against malaria.
When quarantine and social isolation made it difficult to carry out many of the planned events as part of the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign, the focus shifted to mass communications and champion engagement so as to amplify key messages across different platforms for different audiences. Creative communications initiatives such as a song featuring well known singers and rappers, a call-to-action video and a televised animation are aiming to reach mass audiences across the country. The production of the song over the course of several weeks saw 12 different top artists band together to write and record a song that is now making waves in Sierra Leone.
In terms of traditional news media, coverage on malaria in the first half of 2020 actually saw a sevenfold increase when compared to the same period in 2019 thanks in part to the tireless efforts of champion journalists engaged through the campaign. Furthermore, a recent series of District Leadership Forums mobilised a wide variety of groups and key stakeholders to drive education and action at the community level.
In Ghana, the campaign efforts are primarily focused at the national level and benefit from various champions including H.E First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo who stated in a recent op-ed, “malaria has not been on quarantine since the Covid-19 outbreak. It continues to cause mayhem.” Furthermore, nationally renowned journalists, editors and other decision makers in the media space have signed declarations of support to keep malaria centered in the public eye and a Malaria Media Coalition of 50 journalists from across the country has also been established. The importance of the media in supporting mass communications and advocacy has never been starker than in the era of COVID19. Indeed, Ghana has seen an incredible 88% reduction in the number of confirmed malaria deaths annually over the last 7 years, from 2,799 in 2012to 333 in 2019, and this coalition will play a crucial part in mitigating the threat to further progress that is posed by the pandemic.
Another exciting initiative launched in Ghana as part of Zero Malaria Starts with me is the establishment of the National Malaria Advocacy Committee. This is a truly multi-sectoral committee comprising a broad range of committed experts and sector leaders from government, civil society, private sector, financial and technical partners, and academia. This structure will serve to amplify all advocacy and resource mobilisation efforts, especially regarding private sector engagement and political will building.
Globally, over the past few decades, great strides have been made in the fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. In the case of the latter in particular, efforts since 2000 have resulted in the saving of 600, 0000 lives and the prevention of 100 million malaria cases annually. The continent has made tremendous progress against malaria and it’s critical we do not lose this momentum.
Ciku Kimeria is a communication consultant at Speak up Africa, a policy and advocacy action tank focusing on various issues including sanitation, malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and immunization among others. Speak up Africa is dedicated to catalyzing leadership, enabling policy change, and increasing awareness for sustainable development in Africa.
