Nairobi (AFP)

Burundi is facing an outbreak of malaria reaching "epidemic proportions" that has made more than 1,800 victims since the beginning of the year, according to the UN, as much as the number of Ebola victims in one year in the Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo.

From 1 January to 21 July 2019, "a cumulative total of 5,738,661 cases and 1,801 deaths have been reported," according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), accessed by AFP on Tuesday . Burundi has 11.5 million inhabitants.

The authors of the report mention "epidemic proportions" of the disease since early May, but the Burundian government has so far refused to declare a malaria epidemic, despite requests from international organizations in this direction since mid-April.

"In week 29 (July 15-21, 2019), 152,243 cases, including 65 deaths, were reported in 39 health districts in Burundi," OCHA said. "a 164% increase in the number of reported cases" compared to week 29 of 2018.

Low use of preventive measures such as mosquito nets or "lack of human resources, logistical and financial resources for effective response" are the main factors behind this outbreak of malaria.

A source at the World Health Organization (WHO), asked by AFP, explained that he was not able to comment on these figures, saying "the decision to declare an epidemic is a matter of sovereignty. Burundian State ".

In mid-March 2017, the government declared a malaria epidemic when the country had just identified some 1.8 million cases and 700 deaths in just three months. He seems more reluctant to do it this year.

"We are less than a year from the presidential election, the power of (Pierre) Nkurunziza who is facing many crises does not want to recognize what could be considered a failure of its health policy", justified a senior cadre of the regime on condition of anonymity.

Burundi, which has been in a serious socio-economic crisis since 2015, has declared a cholera epidemic in the country since April and faces numerous shortages of fuels or medicines and, more generally, most imported goods due to lack of foreign exchange. .

According to WHO, an estimated 219 million cases of malaria were reported worldwide in 2017, resulting in 435,000 deaths, of which 93% occurred in Africa.

© 2019 AFP