The Central River Region (CRR) regional health team on Sunday June 20th commemorated the World Malaria Day in Bansang in the Upper Fulladu West district, CRR South.

This year's celebration marked the 10th anniversary of the Abuja Declaration and Plan of Action when 44)African heads of state and other senior representatives met and laid down plans  and goals for rolling back malaria  by the year 2010. The theme for this year's celebration is "Counting Malaria Out". The event was marked by a march past, drama performances and speeches.

Addressing the community on behalf of the regional governor, the assistant record officer (ARO), Wassabo Darboe, said that, Africa Malaria Day is observed annually throughout Africa on April 25th, to create awareness of the malaria scourge in Africa and to map out strategies to reduce the incidence of malaria on the African continent.

 He pointed out that during the 2007 meeting of  the World Health Organisation in Geneva, it was agreed upon that since Malaria was not  unique  to Africa but a global problem, there was the need to change the title from Africa Malaria Day to World Malaria Day. He added that,  there is a need for political commitment, increased advocacy and social mobilisation by all stakeholders in order to achieve the desired goals.

The regional public health nurse, Birom Bah, revealed that, worldwide an estimated 300-500 million cases of malaria are  recorded every year; and  of this figure  about 2.5 million are children under the age of five. He asserted that, In Africa malaria is the leading cause of death among children under five years.

 He  added that,  WHO estimates that 300 African children die of malaria every day with one child dying in every 30 seconds. He further revealed that, to combat this life threatening disease, WHO, UNICEF and other partners such as Global Fund, have greatly increased funding in activities geared towards malaria prevention and control.