Following last outbreak in 2017, the country identified problems and made improvements
Photo: iStock The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Cabo Verde (also known as Cape Verde) as a malaria-free country, becoming the third country to acquire the status in the global health organisation’s African region. The country has now joined Mauritius and Algeria, who were certified in 1973 and 2019, respectively.
Africa has the highest malaria burden and accounted for roughly 95 per cent of global malaria cases and 96 per cent of related deaths in 2021.
The certification for Cabo Verde was announced January 12, 2023 and marks a significant achievement in global health. Till now, WHO has awarded the ‘malaria-free’ certification to 43 countries and 1 territory.
“WHO’s certification of Cabo Verde being malaria-free is testament to the power of strategic public health planning, collaboration, and sustained effort to protect and promote health,” the global health body’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
The certification is WHO’s official recognition of a country’s malaria-free status. It is granted after a country has demonstrated, using rigorous, credible evidence, that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes has been disrupted nationwide for at least three consecutive years. A country must also demonstrate the capacity to prevent the re-establishment of transmission.
Cabo Verde, a group of 10 islands in the Central Atlantic Ocean, has faced significant malaria challenges, the WHO said in a statement. Prior to the 1950s, malaria was prevalent on all islands. Severe epidemics were common in the most densely populated areas before targeted interventions were implemented.
Through the targeted use of insecticide spraying, the country eliminated malaria twice: In 1967 and 1983, according to the global health body. However, subsequent failures in vector control resulted in the disease's reemergence. Since the late 1980s, malaria in Cabo Verde has been limited to two islands: Santiago and Boa Vista, which have been malaria-free since 2017.
In 2017, the country transformed an outbreak into an opportunity. Cabo Verde identified issues and made improvements, resulting in zero indigenous cases for three years running, the WHO said.
“The certification as a malaria-free country has a huge impact, and it's taken a long time to get to this point. In terms of the country's external image, this is very good, both for tourism and for everyone else. The challenge that Cabo Verde has overcome in the health system is being recognised,” said the Cabo Verde’s Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva.
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