Kigali is offering free treatment for malaria following a rise in the prevalence of the killer disease in the country.

The Minister of Health Diane Gashumba said that Cabinet had passed a resolution to give free malaria treatment to those who cannot afford it.

“The free treatment will, however, be limited to community health workers and health centres,” said Dr Gashumba.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that malaria cases and rose to 3.9 million in the 2015/2016 period from a low of 800,000 in 2012.

The increase has been blamed on climate change-related conditions such as global warming and high temperatures in many African countries, which make it possible for mosquitoes to multiply easily.

The highest incidence of cases was recorded in the last two months of last year, leading to a shortage of anti-malaria drugs in pharmacies and clinics around the country.

Village-level access

In the ongoing anti-malaria drive, community health workers have been trained to diagnose and treat the disease at the village level. The government is also distributing treated mosquito nets. The exercise is expected to be completed by December.

“Government has already acquired six million nets, and the distribution exercise to various districts has been ongoing since November 7,” said Dr Gashumba.

Rwanda relies on imports for its mosquito nets supply, with the government spending $17.2 million annually in the period between 2009 and 2013. However, plans are underway to set up a production plant in the country.

“We are holding talks with various investors, and though we are not certain when exactly the production plant will be up and running, we are hopeful that it will be soon,” said Dr Patrick Ndimubanzi, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health.