Tinotenda Hove – Mashonaland West is reeling from a worsening malaria outbreak, with the death toll climbing to 33 and infections soaring past 7,100 since January. The grim figures lay bare a deepening health crisis that authorities are struggling to contain.

A provincial malaria update released May 4 shows 7,141 cumulative cases so far. In just the past 24 hours, three more patients died at Chinhoyi Provincial Hospital while 66 new infections were confirmed.

Hurungwe district remains the epicenter of the outbreak, with Makonde, Sanyati, Zvimba and Kariba also recording alarming case numbers. Children under five and pregnant women continue to be among the hardest hit.

While health officials claim the case fatality rate of 0.46 percent is “relatively low” and that district incidence is “still below one case per 1,000 people,” the mounting death count tells a different story on the ground.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care says it has ramped up interventions across all seven districts. Measures include distributing artemisinin-based combination therapies and artesunate injections, along with rapid test kits to detect cases.

Village health workers are now under pressure to strengthen community surveillance and report cases early, while district teams scramble to investigate hotspots, especially in so-called malaria elimination zones.

Vector control efforts have been rushed out, including biolarvicides targeting mosquito breeding sites and insecticide-treated nets handed out to exposed communities.

Indoor residual spraying has only just wrapped up in Hurungwe, where officials say it reached 90 percent room coverage and protected 88 percent of the population. Other districts like Kariba and Makonde are still playing catch-up with mass net distribution campaigns.

Authorities have turned to weekly radio broadcasts, roadshows, and village education sessions to urge prevention and early treatment, a sign that previous awareness efforts have failed to stop the spread.

Despite claims that “control measures are having an impact,” the daily rise in deaths and infections exposes a health system that remains on the back foot against a preventable disease.