The World Health Organization (WHO) has proclaimed Cape Verde to be malaria-free.
The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was present at the live ceremony over the weekend to formally certify the nine-island West African archipelago.
Cape Verde Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva welcomed the milestone.
”For a country in which tourism is its main economic activity, the elimination of malaria is the elimination of a constraint on mobility, the elimination of perception and the reinforcement of sanitary confidence,” Silva said.
The historic milestone makes Cape Verde only the third country in the African region to achieve elimination status of the disease, following Mauritius and Algeria.
The WHO reports that a disproportionately large portion of the world’s malaria cases are in Africa.
Statistics show that in 2022, the region was home to 94 per cent of malaria cases (233 million) and 95 per cent (580,000) of malaria deaths.
