Cape Verde has been declared malaria free by the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa Today News, New York reports.
The West African archipelago of nine islands was officially certified by the international body during a live ceremony at the weekend, which was attended by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Cape Verde Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva welcomed the milestone.”For a country in which tourism is its main economic activity, the elimination of malaria is the elimination of a constraint on mobility, the elimination of a perception and the reinforcement of sanitary confidence,” Silva said.
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The historic milestone makes Cape Verde only the third country in the African region to achieve elimination status of the disease, following Mauritius and Algeria.
According to the WHO, Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.
In 2022, the region was home to 94 per cent of malaria cases (233 million) and 95 per cent (580,000) of malaria deaths.
In another report, the WHO yesterday sent out a big warning that the coronavirus disease is still a major threat despite partially passing under the radar.
The United Nations agency pointed out that no fewer than 10,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported in December, buttressing that data from various sources pointed to increased transmission last month, fuelled by gatherings over the Christmas holiday period and by the JN.1 variant, which is now the most commonly reported around the globe.
“Although COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the virus is still circulating, changing, and killing,” WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said.
Africa Today News, New York reports that besides the near 10,000 deaths reported to the WHO last month, there was a 42 per cent increase in hospitalisations and a 62 per cent increase in intensive care unit admissions, compared with November.