By Reagan Malumo KATIMA MULILO African countries have only three years left to fulfill the targets set for the reduction of their malaria morbidity and mortality rates as set out in the Abuja Declaration. On 25 April 2000, 44 African states signed the declaration, which commits them to reach specific targets on malaria prevention and control by the year 2010. According to the report presented by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the recent commemoration of Africa Malaria Day at Katima Mulilo, “malaria is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five in Africa, one of whom dies every 30 seconds. More than one million of the 350 to 500 million cases of malaria each year result in death.” The report notes approximately 12 billion US dollars are sucked out of the African economy per year by malaria-related illness and mortality costs, hence creatings a vicious cycle of poverty. Speaking on behalf of Dr Custodia Mandlhate, the WHO country representative, the Medical Officer for WHO Namibia, Dr Olufemi Oke, noted that even though Namibia is no exception in this public health warfare, good progress has been made so far. He said the distribution of insecticide treated nets to pregnant women and children under the age of five has increased substantially. Another indicator is the ultimate increase in the spraying coverage to the population living in the epidemic areas in Namibia. Meanwhile, the Minister of Health and Social Services Dr Richard Kamwi revealed that there are about 450 000 clinical cases in Namibia every year. He said of these cases, an average of 1 300 result in death each year. Kamwi said despite these figures, considerable efforts have been made by the malaria control programme of his ministry in collaboration with the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partners and the various communities. He cited the distribution of 140 000 insecticide treated nets to pregnant women and children under the age of five, which according to him has reached an estimate coverage of 60 percent, and a national coverage of 86 percent in house spraying, as some of the major achievements. These have led to a decline in malaria cases by 25 percents in 2005 and 41 percent in 2006 compared to the figures of 2000, a year when the Abuja Declaration was signed. However, despite the progress made, the number of malaria mortalities still remains unchanged and a total of 1 256 deaths were recorded last year. “The reasons for lack of progress in this area are not known,” explained Kamwi who noted the underlying cause of this situation needs to be investigated and addressed as a matter of urgency. He emphasized the need for both the government and private organizations to join hands in the fight against malaria. This is the only way that Namibia could reach the targets set in the Abuja Declaration. “Leadership and Partnership for Result” was the theme for this year’s Africa Malaria Day commemorations, under the slogan “Let’s Free Africa from Malaria Now”. Echoing Kamwi’s sentiments, Oke said since the slogan puts more emphasis on strong leadership and effective partnership as keys to achieving this goal, it is vital for both organizational and community leaders to carry the task further with governments around the African continent to achieve the desired goals. A drama entitled “Mosquito nets are not for fishing but to sleep in” was performed by members of the Social Marketing Association to teach the public on the use of mosquito nets and the prevention of malaria.