HEALTH Minister Brian Chituwo has said malaria still remains the leading killer disease of pregnant women in Zambia.

He said this in Lusaka yesterday during the launch of the Malaria Case Management Educational Programme at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

Dr Chituwo said according to the 2003 health management information systems' report, 4,093,401 cases of malaria were diagnosed, contributing 37 per cent to all diagnosis and 45 per cent of the top 10 diagnoses.

He said it was unacceptable to learn that 20 per cent of maternal deaths and 40 per cent of children under the age of five years illnesses were still attributed to malaria despite it being preventable and curable.

He said in the last few years, Government had been working towards developing and implementing more effective interventions to control the disease.

Dr Chituwo said treatment of Malaria had also come into question because of increasing treatment failures with drugs like chloroquine.

He said results from a study projected a steady increase in chloroquine resistance levels in all parts of the country averaging 60 per cent, which he described as being far above the recommended World Health Organisation criteria for drug change.

He said based on the information, Government through his ministry decided to change the malaria treatment policy.

"This policy change is aimed at providing access to more effective treatment with the overall aim of reaching the Abuja targets of a 50% reduction in malaria mortality and morbidity by the year 2010," he said.

He said through partnership, Government had managed to implement the shift to the use of Artemisinin Based Combination Therapy (ACTs) to manage malaria.

HEALTH Minister Brian Chituwo has said malaria still remains the leading killer disease of pregnant women in Zambia.

He said this in Lusaka yesterday during the launch of the Malaria Case Management Educational Programme at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

Dr Chituwo said according to the 2003 health management information systems' report, 4,093,401 cases of malaria were diagnosed, contributing 37 per cent to all diagnosis and 45 per cent of the top 10 diagnoses.

He said it was unacceptable to learn that 20 per cent of maternal deaths and 40 per cent of children under the age of five years illnesses were still attributed to malaria despite it being preventable and curable.

He said in the last few years, Government had been working towards developing and implementing more effective interventions to control the disease.

Dr Chituwo said treatment of Malaria had also come into question because of increasing treatment failures with drugs like chloroquine.

He said results from a study projected a steady increase in chloroquine resistance levels in all parts of the country averaging 60 per cent, which he described as being far above the recommended World Health Organisation criteria for drug change.

He said based on the information, Government through his ministry decided to change the malaria treatment policy.

"This policy change is aimed at providing access to more effective treatment with the overall aim of r

HEALTH Minister Brian Chituwo has said malaria still remains the leading killer disease of pregnant women in Zambia.

He said this in Lusaka yesterday during the launch of the Malaria Case Management Educational Programme at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

Dr Chituwo said according to the 2003 health management information systems' report, 4,093,401 cases of malaria were diagnosed, contributing 37 per cent to all diagnosis and 45 per cent of the top 10 diagnoses.

He said it was unacceptable to learn that 20 per cent of maternal deaths and 40 per cent of children under the age of five years illnesses were still attributed to malaria despite it being preventable and curable.

He said in the last few years, Government had been working towards developing and implementing more effective interventions to control the disease.

Dr Chituwo said treatment of Malaria had also come into question because of increasing treatment failures with drugs like chloroquine.

He said results from a study projected a steady increase in chloroquine resistance levels in all parts of the country averaging 60 per cent, which he described as being far above the recommended World Health Organisation criteria for drug change.

He said based on the information, Government through his ministry decided to change the malaria treatment policy.

"This policy change is aimed at providing access to more effective treatment with the overall aim of reaching the Abuja targets of a 50% reduction in malaria mortality and morbidity by the year 2010," he said.

He said through partnership, Government had managed to implement the shift to the use of Artemisinin Based Combination Therapy (ACTs) to manage malaria.

eaching the Abuja targets of a 50% reduction in malaria mortality and morbidity by the year 2010," he said.

He said through partnership, Government had managed to implement the shift to the use of Artemisinin Based Combination Therapy (ACTs) to manage malaria.

Malaria is a protozoal disease transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito, caused by minute parasitic protozoa of the genus Plasmodium, which infect human and insect hosts alternatively. It is a very old disease and prehistoric man is thought to have suffered from malaria. It probably originated in Africa and accompanied human migration to the Mediterranean shores, India and South East Asia. In the past it used to be common in the marshy areas around Rome and the name is derived from the Italian, (mal-aria) or "bad air"; it was also known as Roman fever. Today some 500 hundred million people in Africa, India, South East Asia and South America are exposed to endemic malaria and it is estimated to cause two and a half million deaths annually, one million of which are children.

Fishermen and traders, long before British colonisation, probably introduced the disease into northern Australia and in the past malaria was not uncommon in the northern parts of the country. In Western Australia an explosive outbreak of falciparum malaria occurred at Fitzroy Crossing in 1934 which at first was mistaken for influenza and resulted in 165 deaths. WHO declared Australia free of malaria in 1981, however since that time 9 patients have contracted locally acquired malaria.

Approximately 300 million people worldwide are affected by malaria and between 1 and 1.5 million people die from it every year. Previously extremely widespread, the malaria is now mainly confined to Africa, Asia and Latin America. The problems of controlling malaria in these countries are aggravated by inadequate health structures and poor socioeconomic conditions. The situation has become even more complex over the last few years with the increase in resistance to the drugs normally used to combat the parasite that causes the disease.

Malaria is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Four species of Plasmodium can produce the disease in its various forms: