A meeting on updating the "Fighting Against Malaria" Project was held on January 7, 1999 at the Ministry of Health. The meeting was attended by Abdullah Abdulwali Nashir, the Minister of Health; Dr. Abdulkarim Rasse', Health Deputy Minister; Dr. Mohammed Sa'id Amer, general director of the Fight Against Malaria Project; Dr. Saleh Al-Dobahi, Cheif of the National Center for Roll Back Malaria, in addition to a group of specialists representing the donors of the Project.

Since the last meeting between the Fight Against Malaria team in the Ministry of Health and the donors, many efforts were done to make this project a success. The Ministry of Health received 5 malaria experts, 4 from WHO, from Geneva and Alexandria, and one from the European Union. Another expert is expected to arrive within one month from the Central for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta.

These experts have contributed to writing the plan of action for the project. Some of them helped in some field work. One of them accomplished good work in Abyan in drug effecacy on malaria resistance and some training.
Two weeks ago, in line with the WHO initiative, the Ministry of Health had announced the formation of the National Center for Roll Back Malaria. The head quarter of this center will be the Abyan governorate, which is hyper-epedimic with malaria. This is not the first time that Abyan witnesses such centers, It is worth to mention that there was a center for controling malari dating back to as early as the 1940s. The piece of land of which the center will be built on still belongs to the Ministry of Health. The center for malaria will consist of research, control and training departments.

"We finalized the treatment guidlines and we updated our figures and information on the number of positive cases from various governorates and the number of deaths in the last few months." Dr. Abdullah Abdulwali Nashir, the Minister of Health says.
The number of reported malaria cases during 1998 is 1,485,000 and the number of deaths are 1,525. In various governaorates, the number of malaria cases treated by the malaria mobile teams sent by the Ministry of Health during the emergency period September- November, 1998, were 92,526.

A very good job! It is the first of its kind in the history of the Ministry of Health, which is forming a reform plan for 1999. The budget, connected with the plan of action to combat the current emergency situation, will help in rebuilding the infrastructure for the Malaria Control Program. Its total cost will be around US $11, 849,611.

Dr. Saleh Al-Dawbahi, Cheif of the National Center for Roll Back Malaria explained the work already acheived during the last two weeks: "During the last two weeks, since the formation of the National Center for Roll Back Malaria, many things have been done. We left Sanaa on December 21st to start our program. Firstly, we began equipping the center, especially with equipment we need for collecting data and information, such as telephones, faxes and computers. Secondly, we started looking for how to estasblish policies on treating malaria. Now we started training local people how to carry out differnt studies in the few next weeks. By February 1999, we will have a clear idea about the effecacy of the malaria drug (cloroquine) in the country. We will establish a reporting system for malaria. One of the main objectives of the center is to improve the diagnostic facilities of the center, especially lab techenicians, training, and establishing a case mangement fo malaria."

The Minister of Health and his companions hope that by the next year, malaria mortality rate will be reduced to the level that prevents malaria from contiuning to be a major health problem in Yemen.
The donors seemed to be satisfied with what has been done until now. "We will not forget our partners and donors for their great support. We'll try to make use of every cent towards this very important project" said the Minister of Health
"Malaria is still one of the big killers in this country. We need to contain it within the next few years and we cannot do so without your support and help" he added adressing the donors.

Nadwa Al-Dawsari,
Yemen Times