ARUSHA, Tanzania, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The prevalence of the malaria disease in Tanzania has gone down by almost half in the past three years, a senior official said on Wednesday.
According to the latest research figures on the disease of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the prevalence rate dropped from 14.4 percent in 2015 to 7.3 percent in 2017.
Albina Chuwa, NBS director general revealed this during the formal launch of the 2017 Tanzania Malaria Indicator Survey (2017 TMIS) report as part of the International Malaria Day commemoration held in western Tanzania's region of Kigoma.
The survey was implemented by NBS and the Chief Government Statistician's office in Zanzibar, in collaboration with the health ministries of both the Mainland and Zanzibar.
The 2017 TMIS report incorporates assessments of the level of ownership and use of mosquito nets in the country and coverage of intermittent preventive malaria treatments for pregnant women.
It also identifies various treatment practices including the use of specific anti-malarial medications for children aged 6 to 59 months and measures the prevalence of the disease along with anaemia among children of this age group.
Ummy Mwalimu, Tanzania's Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, cited regions with the highest rates of malaria infections especially among children aged below five years as Kigoma (leading with 24.4 percent), Geita (17.3 percent), Kagera (15.4 percent), and Tabora (14.8 percent).
Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Njombe, Songwe, Dodoma and Songwe regions have the lowest rate of infections with less than one percent each, Mwalimu said.
"As a nation and a society, we should continue to join hands in fighting malaria, especially for the sake of young children and expectant mothers," said the minister.
