After 50 years, Cape Verde, a sub-Saharan African nation, has achieved the milestone of being declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO).
This recognition comes after three consecutive years without reporting any local transmission cases, marking a significant accomplishment in the fight against the deadly disease.
In 2022, malaria claimed the lives of 580,000 people in Africa, constituting 95% of global fatalities.
The complex parasite responsible for malaria is transmitted through mosquito bites, although vaccines are now in use, disease monitoring, and mosquito bite prevention remain crucial.
Cape Verde, a small island nation off the West African coast, achieved this feat through years of effort, strengthening health systems, enhancing access to diagnosis and treatment, and implementing vigilant surveillance to detect and control cases early.
The country’s comprehensive malaria control plan includes free care and diagnostic services for international travellers and migrants, aiming to prevent the importation of cases from mainland Africa.
“This success reflects the hard work and dedication of countless health professionals, collaborators, communities and international partners. It is a testimony to what can be achieved through collective commitment to improving public health,” Cape Verde’s Health Minister Dr Filomena Gonçalves told reporters.
Dr Dorothy Achu Fosah, from the WHO Africa office, added that her organisation was “excited and pleased” with the results and the fact that malaria was “kicked out” from the country.
Health experts say Cape Verde’s achievement sets a big example for other small countries on the continent, showing that containment and elimination policies can work.
Malaria was once detected on all of Cape Verde’s nine inhabited islands, but in recent years could only be found on one, Sáo Tiago – where the final efforts were concentrated.
The WHO’s Dr Achu said the fact that the country is an archipelago is also an important factor in its success.
On an island, it is easier to map out the areas most affected by the disease and see how it is being transferred from one island to another, compared to a continuous land mass.
In badly affected countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a highly mobile population regularly crossing borders, making it difficult for one country to eradicate the disease on its own.
Cape Verde’s success “gives us hope that with existing tools, as well as new ones including vaccines, we can dare to dream of a malaria-free world”, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The last country in sub-Saharan Africa to be declared malaria-free was the island nation of Mauritius in 1973. Algeria, in North Africa, achieved this status in 2019.
