The Ministry of Health (MS) launched today (25) a campaign aimed at preventing and combating malaria. As slogan The fight against malaria takes place with the participation of all: citizens, community and government, the campaign focuses on the Amazon Region, which concentrates 99% of cases in the country. The disease, whose incidence occurs in the most socially vulnerable populations, represents a major public health problem in the country. The date marks World Malaria Day and 20 years of action by the National Malaria Prevention and Control Program.
In 2019, Brazil recorded over 153,000 cases of malaria; in 2020 there were 143 thousand; in 2021, 193 thousand cases and in 2022, 129 thousand cases of the disease and 50 deaths were registered. Preliminary data from the folder show that in the first two months of 2023, 21,273 cases have already been registered, an increase of 12.2% compared to the same period last year.
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According to MS, the advertising campaign will be broadcast on television, radio, internet, social networks and billboards in the states of the Amazon Region (AC, AM, AP, MA, MT, PA, RO, RR and TO). The campaign will also be publicized in sound cars and boats, so that the information reaches the population in the most vulnerable locations.
Malaria, also known as paludismo, paludismo, malarial fever, intermittent fever, benign tertian fever, malignant tertian fever, is transmitted through the bite of the female mosquito of the genus anopheles infected by one or more species of protozoa of the genus Plasmodium.
The disease is curable and the treatment is effective, simple and free. However, the disease can evolve into its severe forms if it is not diagnosed and treated in a timely and adequate manner.
O Plasmodium falciparum it is considered the most aggressive, as it is associated with the severe form of the disease, whose symptoms are: prostration, altered consciousness, dyspnea or hyperventilation, seizures, arterial hypotension or shock, and hemorrhages.
In Brazil, 30 municipalities concentrated 80% of cases of the disease. Considering only P. falciparum malaria, 16 municipalities concentrate 80% of cases. In the extra-Amazonian region, comprising the other federative units, actions are focused on avoiding autochthonous (local) transmission.
The director of the Department of Communicable Diseases of the Ministry of Health and Environment Surveillance of the Ministry of Health, Alda Cruz, said that the campaign will be broadcast in the regions considered special and most affected, focusing on alerts, ways of preventing and treating the disease. .
“The homework is to diagnose and treat all cases in an adequate and timely manner, carrying out prevention and control activities, including health education and avoiding re-establishment in areas without autochthonous transmission in the last three years, which has been implemented in the extra-Amazonian region”, he highlighted.
Alda informed that all medicines for the treatment of malaria are available in the Unified Health System (SUS) and that the ministry distributed 171,900 tests, to assist states of the federation and Special Indigenous Health Districts (DSEIs). Another 300,000 tests will be delivered in two stages throughout 2023. This year, the SUS is prepared to treat more than 800,000 people with the disease, including severe malaria.
MS data show that there was, between 2021 and 2022, a reduction in malaria transmission in special areas, with the exception of the mining area, which showed an increase of 11.4% of cases, from 20,554, in 2021, to 22,889 the following year.
In the rural area, the number of cases dropped from 50,896 to 47,621, a reduction of 6.4% in the period; in the settlement there was a decrease from 7,727 to 6,961, a decrease of 9.9%; in the urban area, the number of cases dropped from 11,976 to 10,483, a reduction of 12.5%; and in the indigenous area the drop was 15.7%, going from 46,048 to 38,807.
For the national official for malaria and neglected diseases of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Sheila Rodovalho, detailed attention is needed because the form of transmission of the disease varies in each area. She pointed out that the organization is studying to strengthen support for the national team that works in the area, especially in the state of Amapá.
“We are evaluating support to strengthen the national team, but also in a specific state that we are working today, which is Amapá. It is a state where we managed to identify several situations: we have an indigenous area, we have mining, riverside communities, we have border areas where there is a threat of drug resistance, ”he said.
The Ministry of Health and Environment Surveillance Secretariat, Ethel Maciel, said that, in addition to the campaign, the folder should launch in the next few days a strategic plan to fight malaria specifically for the Legal Amazon. Among the actions that must be carried out are the training of leaders for the elimination of the disease.
“We will work on these two fronts: a specific plan aimed at filling some gaps, both in surveillance and in assistance. When we look at the distribution, including health equipment in Brazil, they are somewhat differentiated by region and the North Region is the one that we need to look differently to effect equity in health”, he explained.
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