‘Malaria still a major cause of absenteeism from work in Africa’

A Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Olusegun Ademowo, has described malaria as an ongoing disaster and a major cause of absenteeism from work in Africa.

Professor Ademowo in an inaugural lecture “Bugs and Man at War: Third Eye to The Rescue” at the University of Ibadan, said in 2016, World Health Organisation estimated that malaria caused 216 million clinical episodes and 445000 deaths, with 91 per cent of these deaths in the African region.

He said malaria was still endemic in 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with a child dying every minute of the disease somewhere in the world.

Professor Ademowo said the problem with malaria control includes widespread drug resistance to common antimalarials, resistance to newer drugs and resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides.

He declared “newer drugs, for example, artemisinin-based drugs are relatively expensive, and there are problems with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) distribution and utilisation, poor environmental control and lack of political will.”

Professor Ademowo factors such as forests, bushes, clustered buildings, poor hygiene and lack of political will by policy-makers had to prevent Africa from eradicating the disease.

He declared that at least 20 per cent of every population will test positive for malaria even though without symptoms, adding that there is a need to increase the armamentarium against Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria.

According to him, the malaria parasite had recreated itself in its survival tactics against drug attacks either through the irregular administration of injections or tablets or fake/substandard drugs.

The don said that his multidisciplinary research group had also developed an ultrasonic device that is capable of expelling and killing mosquitoes.

The device, he said had been inbuilt in air conditioners that are already in use in Nigeria to repel mosquitoes.

To effectively reduce the burden of malaria in Africa, he said early diagnosis and prompt treatment of the disease was important, adding that this would also require that the capacities of health workers be strengthened to make this possible.

According to him, poverty and deprivation need to be alleviated, malaria treatment made free in government hospitals and the search for new drugs be intensified and heavily funded.

Professor Ademowo said the team had also developed a mobile suitcase laboratory with capability and capacity to detect many disease-causing germs, including Ebola virus, in the field and in rural areas.

According to him, the mobile suitcase laboratory works based on recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) technique that is suitable at the point-of-need for the detection of disease-causing DNA in blood within 30 minutes.