Rwanda strengthens Malaria prevention efforts

Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) conducts awareness campaigns in districts that have reported high incidences of malaria cases including Nyagatare, Kigali City, and Gisagara.

As part of these efforts, community health workers in Karangazi Sector, Nyagatare District, received training to improve awareness and response. Hence, they expressed satisfaction with the knowledge acquired from the training.

Murekatete Pauline; a community health worker shared her experience: “Learning is a continuous process. This training provided additional knowledge that helps us in our work. Even after the bonus ended, we continued our duties as usual and we hope journalists can support us in raising public awareness.” She said.

Nyagatare District’s Vice Mayor for Social Affairs, Juliet Murekatete, emphasized the role of community health workers and the challenges the district faces.

“Nyagatare District recorded 4,665 malaria cases. Among those, 3,194 (about 67%) were treated by community health workers in February 2025, and 68% in March 2025.” She said.

She cited environmental and social factors contributing to the prevalence of malaria:
“Swampy areas, proximity to neighboring countries with less stringent malaria control measures, and the use of dam sheets for irrigation create favorable breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Additionally, many migrants in the area do not have mosquito nets.” She said.

The Vice Mayor also spoke about prevention measures: “To combat this, Community health workers have been trained and are now treating patients. There is also a strong public awareness campaign aimed at educating people on malaria prevention. We regularly visit people to teach them how to protect themselves from malaria and collect daily data to monitor cases closely.” She added.

Epaphrodite Habanabakize, a malaria control Officer at RBC explained the reasons for prevention measures:
“Last year, Rwanda recorded 600,000 malaria cases, rising to nearly 800,000 by December 2024. In summary, an additional 200,000 cases were reported, with the highest numbers in Nyagatare, Kigali City, and Gisagara.” He said.

He highlighted the concentration of cases in just a few districts: “Over the past 4 months, 5 districts including Nyagatare and Gisagara, as well as 3 from Kigali reported the highest cases. In December alone, Gisagara had 35,000 of the national 112,000 cases, nearly 40% of the country’s malaria cases.”

He reminded the importance of personal initiative in prevention: “Malaria prevention begins with individuals. People should take responsibility to buy a mosquito net rather than waiting for the government to provide it. Seek treatment early, and follow prevention guidelines. Treatment is free and medicine is available.” He added.

Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) statistics shows that in the past 5 years, malaria deaths decreased from 300 to 61.

Mukamusoni Fulgencie