Zanzibar and Comoros pledge experience-sharing in prevention and treatment of malaria
ZANZIBAR: THE Zanzibar Health Ministry said it will work with the Comoros Islands to strengthen efforts against malaria through experience-sharing, research, and enhanced public education on prevention and treatment.
The move follows significant progress made by Zanzibar in controlling the disease.
Director of Preventive Services and Health Education in Zanzibar, Dr Faiza Bwanakheri Abbas, said this during a visit by Tanzania’s Ambassador to Comoros to the Zanzibar Ministry of Health, where discussions were held on strengthening health cooperation between Zanzibar and Comoros, particularly in the fight against malaria.
Dr Abbas said Zanzibar had made significant progress in combating malaria through various strategies focusing on prevention, community health education, diagnosis and treatment.
She said it was important for Zanzibar to share its experience with Comoros, which continues to face challenges associated with the disease.
According to Dr Abbas, Zanzibar and Comoros have similar geographical and environmental conditions, as well as significant movement of people between the two areas for various activities, including trade.
She said the circumstances made cooperation in health matters, particularly disease prevention and control, increasingly important.
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For his part, Tanzania’s Ambassador to Comoros, Salim Othman Hamad, thanked the Zanzibar Ministry of Health for receiving him and providing an opportunity to discuss ways of strengthening health cooperation between Zanzibar and Comoros.
He said one of the objectives of his visit was to explore effective ways of cooperating in health education and disease prevention, particularly malaria control, as Comoros continues to face challenges posed by the disease.
Ambassador Hamad said the proposed cooperation would cover several areas, including research, information and experience-sharing, preventive health education and treatment.
He added that health professionals from both sides would be given opportunities to collaborate and share expertise in the identified areas.
The meeting was attended by Zanzibar’s Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Mngereza Mzee Miraji, the ministry’s Director General, as well as other officials and health experts from the ministry.
