A review of new challenges and prospects for malaria elimination in Mutare and Mutasa Districts, Zimbabwe

This review outlines and discusses the new challenges in malaria control and prospects for its elimination in Mutare and Mutasa Districts, Zimbabwe. The burden of malaria has declined significantly over the past 5 years in most regions in Zimbabwe, including Mutare and Mutasa Districts. The nationwide malaria reduction has been primarily linked to scaled-up vector control interventions and early diagnosis and treatment with effective anti-malarial medicines. The successes recorded have prompted Zimbabwe’s National Malaria Control Programme to commit to a global health agenda of eliminating malaria in all districts in the country. However, despite the decline in malaria burden in Mutare and Mutasa Districts, there is clear evidence of new challenges, including changes in vector behaviour, resistance to insecticides and anti-malarial medicines, invasion of new areas by vectors, vectors in various combination of sympatry, changes in vector proportions, outdoor malaria transmission, climate change and lack of meticulousness of spray operators. These new challenges are likely to retard the shift from malaria control to elimination in Mutare and Mutasa Districts.