Background: Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Rwanda, particularly among children under 5 years and pregnant women. The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the evolution of malaria from 2006 to 2010 at Butare University Teaching Hospital (BUTH).

Methods: Data were collected from registers of the Parasitology unit of BUTH and the following parameters were recorded: Age, sex, date of the test and result of the test.

Results: Plasmodium falciparum was the most prevalent covered by 92.08%. The year 2006 had the highest prevalence 57.25 % of malaria, followed by 2010 with 19.50%, 2009 with 1 8%, 2008 with 7.35% and then the year 2007 accounted for 6.73%. January had the highest prevalence (17.62%) of malaria, followed by February with 17.26%, March with 14.08%. August had the lowest prevalence of malaria parasites with 3.39%. The age group of 21 to 30 years had the highest prevalence of malaria parasites with 47.24% followed by the age group of 0-10 with 26.43%. Malaria was more prevalent in male (64.03 %) than in female (35.97 %).

Conclusion: The authors of this study recommend that the Government of Rwanda continue its considerable effort to control malaria. The mobilization of the whole population to subscribe to the community health insurance (mutuelle) will have a positive impact to eradicate malaria. The increase of preventive measures by sensitisation of the population especially in the early dry seasons is recommended. The effort of the Government to fight malaria in children below the age of 5 years and pregnant women must continue but as this study showed, male also must not be left behind in the sensitization in the fight against malaria.