Tanzania: Zanzibar medics want proper malaria diagnosis

Zanzibar marks the International Malaria Day this week with a remarkable record of combating the disease in the isles, as medical authorities put emphasis on ‘proper malaria diagnosis before treatment or using medicine.” “Some people including medical practitioners prescribe malaria treatment before diagnosis,” medical practitioners said here yesterday at one-day workshop on “updating journalists about malaria in Zanzibar. Malaria prevalence in Zanzibar has dropped from 40 per cent in 2004 to one per cent or less in 2007, according to Zanzibar Malaria Control Programme (ZMCP) statistics.