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More than a century after the discovery of the malaria parasite in Algeria by a French doctor, the country is now rid of the deadly disease.
After the last statement of a malaria case in 2013, Algeria joined 37 other countries in the world that have been certified malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO). Algeria is the second African country to be certified malaria free after Mauritius in 1973. In Lesotho, Seychelles and Reunion, the other African territories declared free of the disease, malaria has never existed. or disappeared without specific measures.
According to the WHO, the French doctor, Dr. Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, discovered the malaria parasite in Algeria in 1880. In the 1960s, Algeria reported 80,000 cases of malaria a year. Argentina has also been certified malaria free alongside Algeria.
For its part, the journey from Algeria to a malaria-free country has been long and deliberate, with the WHO recognizing that the country provides free diagnosis and treatment of malaria as part of its national health care program.
Both certifications are the result of a WHO global report on malaria, which showed that no significant progress had been made in reducing the number of malaria cases between 2015 and 2017. And further progress could still be expected when Malawi launched "RTS, S" the world's first malaria vaccine for children as part of a historic pilot program last month. Ghana and Kenya are also ready for a similar launch of the vaccine.
After being developed for more than three decades, the vaccine has been successful in preventing "about four out of ten cases of malaria, including three cases of severe, life-threatening malaria" during clinical trials. WHO said the ongoing pilot program "will generate evidence and experience", which will inform its policy recommendations on the wider use of the vaccine.
If the promises of clinical trials for the vaccine are truly successful, their effects will have a greater impact in Africa than anywhere else, as children under five on the continent currently account for more than half of all deaths worldwide. due to malaria.
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