Malaria
- Malaria kills over one million people each year, about 3,000 a day: the majority of victims are children.
- Malaria kills a child every 30 seconds.
- Malaria is the leading killer of children under five in Africa. A newborn
starts being vulnerable to malaria at four months of age when the maternal immunity to diseases
diminishes. Children infected with the parasite will then start getting two to five malarial fevers every year. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable.
- Bed nets treated with insecticide have proven highly effective in killing mosquitoes and
preventing malaria transmission. A major challenge is getting bed nets to the people who need and want them but can not afford the nets. To succeed in poor communities, resources are needed
for free, mass distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets.
These nets save lifes.
- Drug resistance is one of the greatest challenges because the bugs that transmit malaria have developed resistance to Chloroquine, the cheapest and most widely used anti-malarial drug. Many countries have changed their treatment policies and are starting to use drugs, such as
Artemisinin, that are more effective; however, these drugs are much more expensive.
(Uganda has declared artemisinin the official anti-malarial drug.)
- A new promising approach under study is preventive treatment for children. A dose of anti-malarial drugs is given to children during three of their vaccination visits. So far, several studies have very encouraging results, but more research is required before this strategy is adopted on a larger scale.(www.rbm.who.int/amd2007/))
Economic Costs:
- Malaria-endemic countries are among the world's most impoverished.
- The cost of malaria control and treatment drains Africa's economies.
- Endemic countries have to use scarce hard currency on drugs, nets and insecticides.
- Malaria causes death, reduces the productivity of agriculture, affects tourism and external investment.
- The spread of drug-resistant malaria is substantially raising the costs of treatment. Multi-national firms choosing the location of foreign investments shun regions with high malaria transmission rates.
- Population movements, such as seasonal workers and refugees into malaria-endemic regions and countries, are causing major disease outbreaks and impacting on economies.(www.rbm.who.int/amd2007/)
More Information:
- Bedlam in the Blood – Malaria, National Georgraphic
-
Malaria Expert Speaks Out
- Roll Back Malaria