Event started with solidarity awareness parade
* Aligning with the call from WHO’s global campaign to re-energise efforts at all levels, from global policy to community action to accelerate progress towards malaria elimination
* The government is doing its part in scaling down cases of malaria through provision of free safety mosquito nets
* But it is disheartening that public engagement is very low — with many using the nets for fishing and as fences for their vegetable gardens around their homesteads
By Duncan Mlanjira
Illovo Sugar Malawi Plc has reignited and reinvested its contribution towards malaria elimination, aligning itself with the call from World Health Organisation (WHO) global campaign to re-energise efforts at all levels in order to accelerate progress from global policy to community action.
Advertisement
The sugar manufacturing company indicated this during the commemoration of World Malaria Day 2025 on May 7 at its Nchalo Estate in Chikwawa — enhancing WHO’s theme of celebrating the day this year; ‘Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite’.
The World Malaria Day 2025 annually falls on April 25, but Illovo Sugar Malawi Plc extended it to May 7 with commemoration activities starting with a malaria awareness parade of over a kilometre long from Nchalo Estate factory to Kalulu football & recreation stadium.
Led by Nchalo Estate General Manager, Ricky Pilly, the solidarity walk was graced by Malawi Police Commissioner for Eastern Region, Noel Kayira; National Malaria Control Programme Director, Dr. Lumbani Munthali; Chikwawa District Health Officer (DHO), Dr. Lynes Munthali; Estate Support Manager, Dr. Albert Mkumbwa, among several other dignitaries.
Upon arrival at Kalulu Stadium, the guests viewed and were appraised of the medical services provided by Illovo Sugar Malawi led by Medical Services Manager, Dr Waleke Khumalo, that included malaria vaccine provision for under-5 children and antenatal malaria protection for expectant women — that also come with the provision of mosquito protection nets.
Dr. Khumalo and his crew emphasised that drawing from high infant mortality rate due to malaria, Illovo invested into malaria vaccine provision for under-5 children for its staff community as well as sorrounding communities.
They also enlightened of the need for expectant mothers to attend antenatal clinic services as they are very vulnerable to easily catch malaria parasites while strongly advising them never disregard sleeping under mosquito safety nets once they deliver.
All these services are carried out in strong collaboration with the Ministry of Health through Chikwawa District Health Office and in her speech after viewing the pavilion, District Health Officer, Dr. Munthali enlightened the gathering of Chikwawa community members, that included traditional chiefs, that malaria is among the top three on the list of most causes of death in Chikwawa — thus applauded Illovo for organising the event as an investment in the fight against malaria.
She attested to that strong awareness campaign of the dangers of this disease is important just as Illovo Sugar Malawi does all the time in sensitising its staff never to keep stagnant waters and to cut short their landscape grass around homes and to sleep under mosquito safety nets.
Advertisement
The National Malaria Control Programme Director, hailed Illovo for its keen efforts to collaborate with the Ministry of Health in the fight against malaria, saying the threat to this disease is worrisome because of the public’s laizzes-faire attitude towards its prevention.
He disclosed that the Ministry registered over nine million positive cases of malaria across the country last year alone of which over 2,000 died from — “thus we need interventions from all stakeholders to join hands in the awareness campaign to alert the public to keep being hygienic around homes, use mosquito nets and also visit medical services once they detect signs and symptoms of malaria”.
He also applauded Illovo’s efforts in spraying staff houses with mosquito repellent chemicals while urging the general public to do the same whenever they can afford to.
As a huge sugarcane estate community, Nchalo has thousands of employees, some permanent and others registered as seasonal, who still are provided with health services and other amenities. Nchalo also has outreach clinics with the estate hospital as a referral health centre.
Estate Support Manager, Dr. Mkumbwa took cognizance that the government is doing its part in scaling down cases of malaria through provision of free safety mosquito nets but it is disheartening that public engagement is very low — with many using the nets for fishing and as fences for their vegetable gardens around their homesteads.
He also implored on the gathering and the public at large that once they feel signs and symptoms of malaria they should visit clinics and health centres to be tested and prescribed with proper medicine — rather than just rushing to pharmacy shops to buy malaria drugs.
“On top of that, finish the whole dosage that you have been prescribed with even when you feel that you are better and sometimes go back to the clinic and have another test to verify if the parasites in the body have been eliminated.
On his part, the General Manager, Pillay — who is considered by the Nchalo Estate community as a ‘General Leader’ — described the awareness parade a “powerful call to action” aligning with WHO’s theme of ‘Malaria Ends With Us: Reinvest, Reimagine, Reignite’.
He added that provision of health services forms part of the company’s annual budget as its emphasis for ‘Creating a Thriving Community’ — Illovo Sugar Malawi’s motto that is used in reaching out to the social needs of the sorrounding communities of both Nchalo and Dwangwa estates as its corporate social investment.
“We take falling ill to malaria as normal, but this shouldn’t be the case because malaria is highly preventable if we follow the right measures, like sleeping under mosquito safety nets, clearing stagnant waters and cutting short household grass, which are the breeding habitats for mosquitoes.
“We can have a malaria-free community if we all play our part because malaria can end with us as the theme for this year’s World Malaria Day inspires us to,” he said.
Pillay enlightened the gathering that apart from spraying the staff houses with mosquito repellent chemicals, Illovo has in the past year rehabilitated staff houses by enhancing their windows with wire mosquito nets and that over 500 houses are targeted for the same in the next budget.
“Let’s not get weary with the fight against malaria because it starts with us. We are in line with the global theme by commemorating the World Malaria Day today here in Nchalo,” said the South African national, who enlightened the gathering that his home area is malaria-free because of the participation of community members.
Activities during the commemoration included school children’s dance Tchaphatha dance troupe, Lengwe Women dancing troupe, drama and poetry — all having a drama theme to them in the scorn of using mosquito nets for fishing; not seeking medical help when having signs and symptoms of malaria; and keeping households hygienic.
On its website on April 25, WHO indicated that in the 1960s, “malaria was retreating – until the world hit pause. Global eradication efforts were abandoned in 1969, and millions of lives were lost.
“It took 30 years for the world to fight back against the deadly disease — let’s not let history repeat itself. The global community recommitted to malaria in the late 1990s and, as a result, an estimated 2.2 billion cases and 12.7 million deaths have been prevented over more than two decades.
“But after years of steady declines, progress has stalled. Today, malaria claims an estimated 1 life every minute, with most deaths occurring in the WHO African Region. Further progress and decades of hard-won gains are in jeopardy.
“Extreme weather events, conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and economic stresses are disrupting malaria control efforts in many endemic countries, leaving tens of millions of people with limited access to the services they need to prevent, detect and treat the disease.
“Without prompt treatment, malaria can rapidly escalate to severe illness and death. It’s time to recommit to ending malaria. We have the knowledge, life-saving tools and targeted prevention, testing and treatment methods to defeat this disease.
“We must reinvest in proven interventions, reimagine our strategies to overcome current obstacles, and reignite our collective efforts together with countries and communities to accelerate progress towards ending malaria.
“We know how to end malaria — the choice is ours; act now or risk losing ground. Ending malaria is not just a health imperative; it is an investment in a more equitable, safer and prosperous future for every nation.”
In order to combat malaria, which is the leading cause of illness and death among young children in Africa, WHO coordinated the pilot evaluation of the first malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01, in Malawi, Kenya and Ghana in 2019 —which was co-funded by Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and other partners.
The pilot malaria vaccine implementation programme (MVIP) protected millions of children in Malawi, Kenya and Ghana and “generated evidence that the introduction of the vaccine resulted in a 13% reduction in all-cause mortality among children” — as said by Gavi, WHO and UNICEF in joint statement that announces the scaling up of routine provision of the vaccine early last month.
The global health partners took note that the multi-year MVIP in the three countries that piloted it, “led to WHO’s recommendation and prequalification of the two safe and effective malaria vaccines available today”.
Advertisement
“WHO continues to support countries by providing guidance, sharing experiences and offering technical assistance to ensure successful implementation,” said the statement that announced thelaunch in Uganda of “the largest malaria vaccine introduction to date — targeting 1.1 million children aged under two years in 105 high- and moderate-transmission districts”.
The malaria vaccination campaign was rolled out in Apac District, northern Uganda, making it the 19th country in Africa to introduce the malaria vaccine into routine immunisation, which is also the largest malaria vaccine roll-out to date in terms of target districts and population.
The statement reporte that malaria is the leading cause of illness and death among young children in Uganda, responsible for up to 33% of all outpatient visits; 22% of hospital admissions and 6% of deaths, quoting 2023 data from WHO.
In 2023, Uganda was among the top five African countries with the highest malaria burden, alongside Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Of the 19 countries, 14 introduced the vaccine in 2024; including Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Benin, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, South Sudan, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Niger, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Nigeria and Burundi.
