Jorge Luis Tormo
This was revealed by Cuban Ambassador to Tanzania Jorge Luis Tormo in an interview with The Guardian over the weekend.
The ambassador said Tanzania was among other countries in Africa characterised by high incidence of malaria due to a combination of climatological and socio-economic factors.
He said upon completion of the plant Tanzania will have a big capacity to produce the compound and biofertilizers in the continent.
“Tanzania has been supporting Cuba for decades now; so, we also thought of offering support in different areas, including technical support, especially in the fields of medicine,” he said.
Prof Eng Ricardo de Campos, Labiofam SA Director for sub-Saharan Africa, said biolervicide can be sprayed in polluted rivers, choked drains, stagnant pools and other mosquito breeding areas.
The director said following preliminary research the company has carried out for over 20 years in Africa, the use of biolarvicide was the best approach because mosquitoes are found mostly in surroundings.
He said the plant will have the capacity to produce at least six million litres of biolarvicide a year.
He explained that the compound does not harm human beings, wildlife, fish, beneficial predatory insects or the environment.
It can also be used in areas where chemical larvicides could not be used due to resistance or were hazardous to non-target species such as fish or where there was risk of contamination.
He said the technology was introduced by Cuba and had recorded successful stories wherever it was adopted.
Once the plant goes into operation, the country would export the compound to other countries which are also in dire need of the eco-friendly anti-malaria product.
It is estimated that over 2 million children and expectant mothers in Africa die of Malaria a year.
Meanwhile, Campos said the project was to have been completed at the end of this year but it was pushed forward to the second semester of 2013 following a fraudulent appropriation of money deposited as payment for earlier chosen contractor.
A Cuban lawyer specialising in international commercial law, who is a legal advisor to Labiofam Enterprises, confirmed the incident, adding that the matter was now with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) for investigation.
In November 2010, Tanzania and Cuba signed a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the plant, with National Development Corporation pledging to chip in USD 23 million for its construction.
Malaria has been affecting about 16 million people in the country annually but the government of Tanzania has been taking initiatives to fight the disease, including distribution of treated mosquito nets and indoor residual spray.
The preliminary results of the 2011-2012 Tanzania HIV/Aids and Malaria Indicator Survey released recently showed that malaria prevalence in children in Tanzania aged below five years has fallen by 44 per cent since 2007.
Health and Social Welfare minister Dr Hussein Mwinyi said the drop was a big achievement in the country’s efforts to combat malaria.
He said in 2007 the percentage of children under the age of five with malaria was 18 per cent, but in the 2011-12 THMIS, as measured by a rapid diagnostic test, the prevalence had declined to 10 per cent.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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