The National Malaria Control Programme has registered great success in reducing the burden of Malaria in The Gambia.

The programme has so far secured the reduction of malaria related deaths by 90% and a massive 74% reduction is also registered in the area of admission proportions, thus, experiencing a great decline in paediatric [OPD] consultation.

The Gambia, according to a report presented at the Bamako WARN meeting where 16 countries met to discuss a roadmap on implementations and strategic planning for 2010-2015, recorded a decline in Malaria morbidity over the years. "There is prompt and effective treatment of malaria in The Gambia within 24 hours. In this respect, all public Health facilities have adequate supply of anti-malarial drugs, 83.2% of children under five have access to treatment within 24 hours of onset of fever in the Western Health Region and 60% of children under five have access to treatment within 24 hours of onset of fever in the remaining five regions," The report stated

Success in the indoor residual spraying (IRS}
Key among the activities that are carried out by the NMCP to reduce the burden is the Indoor Residual Spraying [application of long-acting chemical insecticides on inner walls and roofs of dwelling houses and animals’ shelters] which is one of the primary vector control interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality due to malaria, which is said to be a very effective method of curbing malaria in countries because it kills and reduces the life span of adult mosquito vectors that land and rest on the walls and roofs.

According to experts, the effectiveness of IRS lasts for six months but within this period, the Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane DDT insecticide which is used in spraying, is costly effective, though it reduces the density of mosquitoes and in some situations lead to the elimination of locally important malaria vectors.  According to the NMCP the IRS [Indoor Residual Spraying] was sponsored by His Excellency the President who disbursed some 80, 000 kilograms of DDT and spraying machines to the Ministry of Health. A test was carried out in Banjul and the second one in Janjangbureh to see its effectiveness, the outcome and its impact on human beings. The first activity carried out was in Basse URR where 92, 000 rooms were sprayed.

According to Balla Kandeh, a Medical Entomologist and the current Deputy Programme Manager NMCP, the URR, CRR, LRR, NBR, and Western Region were sprayed. "During this campaign, 499,264 rooms in all regions were sprayed, and we received a comfortable response from the people in the regions. For instance, in URR we received 450 voluntary Green Youths who were trained for this purpose," He revealed. Kandeh further disclosed that plans are on the way to spray the KMC. In addition to that well-treated insecticide bed nets were given to the vulnerable groups for example, Children under the age of five, pregnant women and people with HIV-AIDS, who are twice likely to catch the endemic.

Views of the Public on the effectiveness of IRS
Lamin Ceesay a resident in Brikama Giddah told this reporter that this is the best intervention ever made by the National Malaria Control Programme. "This season my kindred is Malaria-free thanks to NMCP, we use to buy a lot of insecticides but now no worries, our rooms have been sprayed," he stated.