There has been considerable progress in scaling up interventions and controlling malaria in the country with the 2014 Malaria Indicator Survey showing a drop in the pandemic’s prevalence from 43 percent in 2010 to 33 percent last year.
The survey, released in February this year, was done by the National Malaria Control Programme under the Ministry of Health. It is the country’s third nationally representative assessment of the coverage attained by key malaria interventions. These interventions are reported in combination with measures of malaria-related burden and anaemia prevalence testing among children under five.
Each year, Malawi reports four million cases of malaria with children under five being the worst casualties.
Despite that, the survey notes progress in preventive measures such as net ownership, which has increased from 58 percent in 2010 to 70 percent in 2014. Even among pregnant women, the survey shows an improvement on use of intermittent preventive treatment.
Equally encouraging is the progress on the knowledge levels of malaria with women topping.
“Eighty-four percent of women say that the use of mosquito nets can prevent malaria,” reads the document.
