Local malaria cases unheard of in UAE

Dubai - UAE marks World Malaria Day; last indigenous positive case was reported in 1997

Asma Ali Zain

Published: Tue 18 Apr 2017, 6:22 PM

Last updated: Tue 18 Apr 2017, 8:43 PM

At least 4,600 imported cases of malaria were detected in the UAE last year, even as the country has been free from local cases for the past 10 years.
The last indigenous positive case was discovered in an Emirati in 1997 in the Masfoot area, said officials on Tuesday while observing World Malaria Day.

How is malaria ?controlled in UAE?Tiny larvae eating fish are released by the hundreds into all big water bodies in the country while the smaller water pools are sprayed with a chemical.
"These are biological fish such as tilapia that are released into the wadis, gardens, wells, artificial lakes so that when the mosquito breed and lay eggs, these fish eat the larvae," said BMosallem. "This is better than using chemical sprays and we have been successful in controlling malaria for so many years," he added

Dr Aisha Suhail, director of primary health care (PHC) at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHP), said that most cases came from the African continent, India, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, Nepal and the Philippines.
She said the ministry had been taking concrete steps to keep the country free from the disease.
"World Malaria Day is an occasion to highlight the continual need for efforts to mobilise the commitment to the prevention and control of the disease as well as to increase awareness among individuals on avoiding the infection."
She said that the ministry's strategy had been effective in protecting the community from communicable diseases and controlling them through an efficient preventive healthcare system.
"The UAE was one of the first countries in the Middle East that was declared officially free of malaria in 2007 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and that there have been no locally recorded cases of the disease since 1997," she added.
"We have a robust malaria surveillance programme to detect and treat cases as well as the detection and control of insects in cooperation with neighbouring countries."
The ministry has also set up traveller's clinics at the primary healthcare centres preventive medicine department that will provide free vaccinations and medicine for various infectious diseases to citizens and residents.
"The clinic also offers health education and preventive medicines for malaria to people who are travelling to countries where malaria is endemic."
Mosallem Aahmed Kamra, coordinator of the technical committee for malaria at the ministry, said: "Keeping the country free of the disease was the bigger challenge."
The ministry has already put in place an early detection system. "We approach companies and get blood samples from workers who have recently travelled. This way we can know if they have the disease or not," Mosallem told Khaleej Times.
Malaria is a non-communicable disease which is spread when the female mosquito bites a human. Currently, there is no vaccine for malaria.
"We have the oral tablets that are given to patients," said Mosallem.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com