article · Malaria Journal
Malaria remains a major global public health concern with high rates of illness and death, despite therapeutic advances. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the highest burden of the disease while contending with under-resourced healthcare systems. The region is undergoing an epidemiological health transition characterised by a rise in non-communicable lifestyle diseases, creating a dual burden that places further strain on healthcare infrastructure. In response, the African Union introduced the Zero Malaria Starts with Me campaign to encourage community-level and individual participation in malaria prevention. Achieving malaria elimination requires navigating the complex systemic obstacles confronting health sectors across the continent. Addressing these challenges is vital for assessing whether malaria elimination targets can be reached within populations experiencing simultaneous infectious and lifestyle disease pressures.
Understanding the compounding pressures on African healthcare systems is essential for public health planning. As non-communicable lifestyle conditions rise alongside persistent infectious threats such as malaria, health resources face severe strain. Examining these overlapping burdens helps public health bodies, policymakers, and international partners design realistic intervention strategies and target support towards the structural barriers that hinder disease elimination programmes across the region.
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The global burden of malaria continues to be a significant public health concern. Despite advances made in therapeutics for malaria, there continues to be high morbidity and mortality associated with this infectious disease. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most affected by the disease, but unfortunately the region is burdened with indigent health systems. With the recent increase in lifestyle diseases, the region is currently in a health transition, complicating the situation by posing a double challenge to the already ailing health sector. In answer to the continuous challenge of malaria, the African Union has started a "zero malaria starts with me" campaign that seeks to personalize malaria prevention and bring it down to the grass-root level. This review discusses the contribution of sub-Saharan Africa, whose population is in a health transition, to malaria elimination. In addition, the review explores the challenges that health systems in these countries face, that may hinder the attainment of a zero-malaria goal.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12936-022-04340-1
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