New malaria insecticide coming, assures minister
Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu assured Tanzanians recently that at least 2.5 million litres of an effective alternative insecticide known as biolarvicides were about to be produced by Tanzania Biotech Products Ltd in Kibaha.
What you need to know:
- “To begin with, we have already negotiated with Tanzania Biotech Products Ltd to produce at least 2.5 million litres of biolarvicides and this will be distributed throughout the country,” she said.
- “Children will be able to go to school and parents go to work, thus dramatically reducing social and economic burdens of the disease,” she said.
Dar es Salaam. Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu assured Tanzanians recently that at least 2.5 million litres of an effective alternative insecticide known as biolarvicides were about to be produced by Tanzania Biotech Products Ltd in Kibaha. The project is implemented by the governments of Tanzania and Cuba.
“To begin with, we have already negotiated with Tanzania Biotech Products Ltd to produce at least 2.5 million litres of biolarvicides and this will be distributed throughout the country,” she said.
“Children will be able to go to school and parents go to work, thus dramatically reducing social and economic burdens of the disease,” she said.
Ms Mwalimu told The Citizen in an interview that the government was set to put in place various sufficient prevention strategies to curb the malaria burden and reduce the number of deaths to both women and children aged below five years.
“We are embarking on the production of biolarvicides, an effective alternative insecticide capable of killing malaria parasites,” she said.
She noted that the use of treated mosquito nets and indoor residual sprays were among the key prevention methods to curb malaria.
She urged people to use alternative prevention methods for protecting themselves and their children from malaria. “We encourage people to use indoor residual sprays and treated mosquito nets to combat malaria, especially in the Lake Zone,” she said.
Various malaria experts in the country admit that mosquitoes are resistant to pyrethroids, hence there is a need for an alternative insecticide. Scientific researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Mr Said Magogo, admitted that his office was working on the alternative insecticide.
He urged people to destroy mosquito larvae and utilise treated mosquito nets to protect themselves from mosquito bites.
The malaria burden in Tanzania has increased by 7 per cent in 2010 and 14 per cent this year. At least 14 people in every 100 suffer from malaria and 18 million people are exposed to the disease every year, according to the NIMR.
According to the World Health Organisation, in 2015, Africa was home to 90 per cent of malaria cases and 92 per cent of the cases resulted in deaths.
The disease’s devastating impact on children and their families is worrisome, despite reports that its incidence is declining globally.
