The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked great havoc in Latin America and the Caribbean, places described by the United Nations (UN) as “one of the regions most affected” by the virus. Meanwhile, experts recommend not lowering your guard against diseases such as malaria, a condition that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) causes around 627,000 deaths a year.
“Urgent action is needed to get the global response to malaria back on track and the responsibility for the challenge lies in the hands of the countries most affected by the disease,” defends the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on its website, which in the Americas it registered an increase in cases in Peru, Panama, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
“In the region of the Americas, 18 countries out of 37 PAHO member states have autochthonous
transmission of malaria,”
Venezuela is precisely one of the countries that most worries the scientific community, along with Brazil and Colombia, since these three nations currently account for more than 77% of the cases in the region but. The arrival of the economic, political and social crisis, experts report that prevention and control programs were left aside, and malaria returned to the country
In the early 1960s, the World Health Organization certified Venezuela as the first country in the world to eliminate malaria in a territory greater than 400,000 kilometers. However, today, in the 21st century, statistics reveal an uncontrolled evil.
From 2000 to 2020, malaria cases went from 29,000 to 430,000, which represents an increase of 1,400%. Half of the infections in America correspond to the oil country. The pandemic complicated the situation.
“Venezuela has the highest number of fatal cases on the continent. We went from having 3% of fatal cases in the region to 73 percent, that serious damage has been found in the liver and in the brain of some patients.
“With the passage of time, around the year 2000, the cases began to increase. The year 2018 was the largest peak of cases, exceeding 500,000 cases. In fact, non-official figures speak of 1 million cases in a year,” says Dr. David Forero, a researcher at the Central University of Venezuela.
For some, getting malaria several times is a common situation: “It has hit me 3 times,” Venezuelan Luz Martínez told AFP.
“A problem of this magnitude has been underestimated. It is a State problem. Malaria interferes with the life of countries. It must be taken into account that it is one of the factors of greatest mortality and morbidity in any population,” he laments, always foreseeing that the disease could reach neighboring countries if it is not stopped in time.
Although experts highlight that the Venezuelan territory became a relevant focus for the spread of malaria in Latin America, they maintain that the COVID-19 pandemic reduced cases, especially due to restrictions related to mining, an activity considered high risk not only because miners work under inhumane conditions, but also because mine shafts are one of the main sources of proliferation of the mosquito that transmits malaria.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Health, with the support of Doctors Without Borders and the Pan American Health Organization, have launched the National Malaria Program dedicated to the fumigation of the transmitting mosquito and the distribution of drugs for those affected. However, teams trying to reach the regions with the highest contagion are at risk.
The commemoration of World Malaria Day last April celebrated the progress made in eliminating the disease, also known as malaria. However, the World Health Organization issued a call to action to build on these achievements and continue the work to create a malaria-free world.