Ethiopia reports 3.2 mln malaria cases in 8 months

Malaria cases are surging in Ethiopia with 3.2 million cases having been reported over the past eight months, Azernews reports, citing health ministry of Ethiopia.

Warning against the rapid spread of the disease across different parts of the East African country, the ministry said some 70,000 people are getting infected every week.

The ministry noted that the imminent main rainy season will further exacerbate the spread of the disease and called for urgent malaria awareness and prevention efforts to be applied across the country.

As a result of the ongoing outbreak, the number of malaria-related deaths in Ethiopia increased from 611 in January to 764 in February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said on Monday.

While health partners are mobilizing resources to support malaria prevention, treatment and awareness campaigns across the country, the current malaria response is challenged by inadequate bed net utilization among communities at risk, suboptimal environmental activities, and lack of insecticide spraying at mosquito breeding grounds, UNOCHA said.