A review of present antimalaria activities in Africa

In the WHO African Region, malaria still remains a public health problem that constitutes a serious obstacle to development. This is due to the high intensity of transmission and the lack of sufficient resources to apply effective methods of control. However, the recent adoption of the primary health care delivery system offers a new basis for antimalaria strategies, and this has led to renewed hope of (1) reducing mortality and morbidity, (2) minimizing harmful effects on socioeconomic development, (3) achieving ultimate eradication, and (4) protecting the status of areas freed from malaria.Primary health care systems make it possible to ensure the ready availability of antimalarial drugs for treatment and for chemoprophylactic schemes to protect young children and pregnant women. However, with the presence of chloroquine resistance in several countries, a critical review of the use of drugs is required.In the countries of southern Africa where malaria is unstable and liable to be epidemic, control is achieved mainly by the seasonal use of residual insecticides and chemotherapy.So far, eradication has been achieved only in Réunion, but it is also likely to be achieved soon in the islands of Sao Tome and Principe. Considerable reduction of transmission has been achieved in Ethiopia.