Barcelona (Venezuela) (AFP)
"There are people who have had malaria 15 or 20 times", assures Leonardo Vargas, member of the municipal council of Los Montones, a small dusty town in the northeast of Venezuela where the disease is once again wreaking havoc, 60 years old after its official eradication in 1961.
Luz Martinez, 30, gave birth to a premature baby at 7 months.
The complications are probably due in part to malaria, says the young woman from the patio of her house, in this village located on the outskirts of Barcelona, the capital of the state of Anzoategui.
She has had attacks of malaria three times before, but no longer pays attention to the swarms of mosquitoes that envelop her modest house on the dirt floor at nightfall.
"My 12-year-old daughter had it and my other son too. Malaria is very present here," she says.
By "underestimating" the stakes and by "abandoning" most anti-malaria programs 20 years ago, the state "allowed the return of one of the horsemen of the health apocalypse in Venezuela" , denounces the former Minister of Health, José Félix Oletta (1997-1999).
Venezuela was the first South American country to completely eradicate the disease in 1961.
Today, it accounts for 73% of deaths from malaria in the region, according to a summary by the Venezuelan Society of Public Health based on figures from the World Health Organization.
- At the gates of Caracas -
According to the WHO, which established a World Malaria Day on April 25, there were 229 million cases in 2019 worldwide for 409,000 deaths, mainly in Africa.
Venezuela is now the most affected country in South America, with a higher number of cases (more than 400,000) than those of Brazil, Peru and Colombia combined.
In 2019, there were 400 active households in 17 of the country's 24 states.
Malaria is already at the gates of Caracas, according to the former minister.
"The situation is even more complicated due to the pandemic (of Covid-19) which sucks all funds," he said, stressing that in addition to mobilizing all financial and human resources, the coronavirus has reduced travel and the ability to diagnose.
In Los Montones, people fear malaria more than Covid.
"Malaria is very present. Many people suffer from it, children have been affected while the Covid there are few cases for the moment", explains city councilor Leonardo Vargas.
"All around, we have lakes, a river and several small ravines where mosquitoes multiply".
To fight against the scourge, the NGO Médecins sans Frontières, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, is carrying out operations in the state of Anzoategui as in Los Montones.
"We go from house to house. We look for cases of malaria, we distribute mosquito nets, we carry out fumigations (to kill mosquitoes)", explains Gustavo Liscano, 27, head of an MSF team working in the area. the state.
Eight teams crisscross the town, carrying out in particular rapid blood tests (a drop of blood taken on the index finger).
The distribution of mosquito nets has massively reduced the number of cases, according to the NGO.
Another mother, Luz Misel, is delighted to have her mosquito net: "a year ago, I had malaria. It was horrible, I had a fever, a headache, I was shaking ", she explains, relieved for her baby who woke up previously with lots of" redness from the stings "
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