Abstrakt

Malaria Risk Factors and Intervention Policies in Democratic Republic of Congo

Songthap Archin

Malaria is one of leading causes of morbidity and of mortality in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Population displacement, poor access to healthcare services and environmental factors such as warm and humid climate, variation of temperature, rainfall, vegetation nearby (providing shade for mosquitoes), harsh, and presence of Anopheles mosquitoes are risk factors permitting malaria transmission in DRC. The interventions policies are combined within: (1) insecticide-treated mosquitoes nets (ITNs) or long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are distributed through mass campaigns to all age groups free of charge; (2) the use of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) is recommended by National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) as long as IRS does not contain dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT); (3) intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) is used to prevent malaria during pregnancy; (4) every patient should get diagnostic test and the test is free of charge in public sectors; rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is used at community level; (5) Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) is applied for treatment of plasmodium falciparum and quinine, artemether intramuscular (IM) or artesunate suppositories are prescribed for pre-referral treatment; (6) cases reporting from private sector and from active case detection (ACD) at community level are mandatory; (8) and the use of the larval control is recommended. This article aims at presenting malaria risk factors and intervention policies in DRC.