Off the wire
• Israeli cabinet approves nomination of new interior minister  • Chinese scientists develop shape-shifting material  • Gunmen kill senior intelligence officer in Yemen's Aden  • Esteghlal Khuzestan signs Timorese Bertoldo dos Santos  • 3 children charred to death in fire in Indian capital  • Feature: Zimbabwean farms affect by worst drought in decades  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- Jan. 10  • H5N6-infected mother gives birth to healthy child  • Rocket hits clinic run by Int'l medical group in north Yemen, 3 killed  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Jan. 10  
You are here: 　 Home

Mozambique sees more malaria cases in 2015

Xinhua, January 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Mozambique's northwestern province of Tete is the most-hit region by the killer disease malaria across the country, with 213 people died of the disease in 2015, rising substantially from the 22 deaths recorded in 2014, local media reported on Sunday.

According to the state-owned news agency AIM, a total of 370,000 malaria patients sought medical units for medical care in 2015 in Tete, which reportedly hosts large coal reserves.

In 2014, 20,000 cases of the disease were reported across the province, of which 22 resulted in deaths, according to the diagnosis made by health authorities in Tete province.

The upward trend in the number of people who died of malaria, as well as disease cases seen in 2015, was due to the late arrival of patients to health facilities scattered around the Tete province, according to the head of Community Health, Regina Nassiaca.

"On our evaluation, we noted that in 2015 we had more deaths of malaria than in 2014, because the patients went to health units too late. And this worried us too much," said Nassiaca.

Nassiaca said health authorities had been spreading messages to educate people to rush to health units as soon as they learn that they suspect of having malaria.

"Last year, the Tete health units distributed around 910,000 mosquito nets to the people to protect from the disease. It is a significant number for people who need the treated nets in the communities," Nassiaca said.

The country's Health Ministry says that malaria continues to be the main killer disease in the former Portuguese colony apart from the AIDS pandemic. Endit