MALARIA: Angola

Crouched on an upturned plastic box, Eva Angelino bounces 11-month old Odelina on her knee, trying to stop her crying. Mother and daughter are waiting in line outside a public health centre not far from the city centre of Angola’s capital Luanda.
"You have to be very patient here," sighed 24-year-old Eva. "I was here yesterday from 8 am to after 2 pm waiting to get a malaria test for us both and then they told us we would have to come back again today.
"They only have one microscope to do the tests so that’s why it takes so long."
If Odelina’s test is positive, it will be the third time she’s had malaria in her short life, her mother explains, resigned to the hold the disease has on Angola and its people.
"What’s important is that you get the medicine in time," she said, "Then it’s ok, but if you don’t get it quickly, then you have problems."
There are estimated to be just over three million cases of malaria each year in Angola which has a population of just 17 million.
This is a low level compared to other African countries like Mozambique, where there are an estimated 7.4 million cases a year or the more than 11 million cases annually in Tanzania.
But no-one is really sure of the exact numbers of malaria cases in Angola due to weaknesses in reporting systems.
Waiting across the road from the health centre while his wife and son crammed into the queue inside, Ricardo Barros, told IPS that malaria was just part of everyday life for most people.
"I’ve grown up with malaria, it was part of my childhood. I can’t remember how many times I’ve been infected," the 30-year-old said. "It’s killing a lot of people and we need to find a way of reducing it."
Pointing at the heaps of litter nearby, unemployed Barros said: "The government needs to do more to invest in places like this, to improve conditions to get rid of the litter and stop all this dirty water lying around, then I think we will see less malaria."
Large amounts of money are however already being spent on fighting malaria in Angola.
The Portuguese-speaking country, which emerged from a 27-year civil war in 2002, is one of 15 countries benefiting from the President’s malaria Initiative (PMI), a five-year, $1.2 billion programme led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3604033512937490051