By Precious D. Freeman
The Pollution Control Association of Liberia (POCAL) has joined the world to celebrate World Malaria Day.
World Malaria Day is observed annually on April 25 to bring global attention to the efforts being made to bring an end to malaria and encourage actions to reduce suffering and deaths from the disease.
The program that was initiated by POCAL in collaboration with Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development (AGENDA) brought together several students from different schools in order to learn how to eradicate malaria.
Speaking yesterday in Monrovia, the Executive Director for POCAL, Henry O. Williams, explained that World Health Organization (WHO) Member States instituted the day during the world health assembly in 2007, and that it has been celebrated to raise awareness about malaria and how to eradicate the disease from the earth.
According to him, this year’s World Malaria Day theme is “Ready to Beat Malaria,” and that the theme underscores the collective energy and commitment of the global malaria community in uniting around the common goal of a world free of malaria.
The head of POCAL added that last year’s theme was “End Malaria for Good’ but he observed that since then malaria has not yet ended rather, it is getting out of control because of the way the surroundings and the country at large is floating in dirt.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease transmitted via the bite of female anopheles mosquito infected by the malaria causing plasmodium parasite. About half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, primarily in poor countries.
Explaining further, ED Williams maintained that the deadly disease infects more than 500 million people across the world each year and is very much preventable and curable when the rightful measures are taken.
The World Health Organization has introduced a preventive vaccine of malaria to the forefront in this event, with the aim of reducing the massive global death toll of 40,000 people to malaria every year.
He furthered that to put malaria progress back on track, WHO recommends robust commitment to malaria responses at all levels, particularly in high burden countries, greater domestic and international funding, science and data-driven malaria response, urgent action on the health, impact of climate change, and strong partnership for coordinated responses, among others.
POCAL boss also recommended that by engaging in educational institutions to do malaria prevention and awareness will help to beat malaria.
Meanwhile, the community chairperson, Joseph G. Manto, applauded POCAL and its partner for the great initiative and awareness, and promised to always keep the surroundings clean in order to beat malaria.
