Luanda - The United States of America has supported Angola, in the last 20 years, with USD 396 million to fight malaria, said Friday in Luanda Province, the Minister Counselor at the United States Embassy in Angola, Mary Emma Arnold.
Speaking at the ceremony commemorating 20 years of partnership between the governments of Angola and the US and oil and gas company ExxonMobil for the fight against malaria, the Deputy Chief of the US Embassy in Angola said that the largest investment has been made through cooperation between the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Angolan government, established in 2006.
According to the Minister Counselor, the United States continues to contribute about USD 19 million annually to a range of activities including training of health workers, procurement of first-line antimalarial drugs, and the distribution and promoting the use of mosquito nets.
She revealed that last year, the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) against malaria obtained more than 3.45 million mosquito nets, 3.5 million rapid-acting antimalarial drugs and 6.1 million rapid diagnostic tests delivered to Health Units and communities in Angola.
Over 8,070 health professionals from some 939 Health Units were trained, enabling them to improve their skills in testing and treating malaria, while strengthening their skills to care for patients suffering from other diseases.
She stressed that in 2022, US and Angola worked together to make possible the provision of services and supplies against the disease that have saved lives and supported communities to flourish.
Mary Emma Arnold explained that PMI channels its resources mainly to the provinces with the highest record of malaria cases, namely Zaire, Uíge, Malanje, Cuanza Norte, lundas Norte and Sul, although it contribute 10% of its purchases to the needs of the remaining provinces in the country.
It also provides technical support to the National Program for Malaria Control, National Central Procurement (CECOMA) and the Regulatory Agency for Medicines and Health Technology (ARMED).
She informed that another successful example is the free online training platform, called Kassai, which allows anyone in Angola to receive training on the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, launched in 2020, and which now has more than 30,800 users enrolled in the various health courses.
The diplomat emphasized that through US support, this year in the aforementioned provinces, over 4.5 million people were tested for malaria and 2.5 million were diagnosed with the disease.
As for treatment, she said that about 2.2 million were treated by health professionals trained with support from the United States.
Mary Emma Arnold stressed that they have seen real, tangible success from this initiative, adding that since 2006, infant mortality rates have decreased by 40% and deaths from malaria have decreased by 15% by 2022.
Angola highlights support
On his turn, the secretary of State for Public Health, Carlos Pinto de Sousa, highlighted the support that ExxonMobil has provided to the Ministry of Health since 2003, with the objective of empowering communities, increasing awareness and providing medical means to prevent, diagnose, treat and train health professionals.
To him, malaria is an obstacle to the country's progress and development, and fighting it is decisive for building a better and more prosperous future.
“However, we observe that there has been progress in the control of this disease in our country, having registered a decrease in malaria deaths by 9% and a stoppage in the number of cases in 2022, compared to 2021”, he said.
According to the official, Angola together with partners continues to invest to maintain and innovate services in order to prevent, find and treat the disease in due time, so that the goal of zero malaria should not be just a slogan.
