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April 22, 2005
Africa Malaria Day - Part 1
Monday 25 April is Africa Malaria Day (thanks, Brandon, for pointing this out), so this is the first in a short series of postings about malaria.
Malaria kills over 1 million people each year, 90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa. That is 3 tsunamis each year....
Malaria is caused by a parasite injected into the blood stream by the mosquito. It causes fever, shaking, and headaches, and can produce vomiting, delirium, and - evidently - death. I have had it a few times, and have friends - African and western - who have died from it. It is bad.
Work is still continuing to look for a vaccine for malaria, but it is still thought to be 10 years off. As westerners visiting Africa, we of course have the possibility of preventative medicine, mosquito nets, mosquito sprays, mosquito-proofed houses, and access to medical treatment if necessary. Most Africans have access to none of this, either because it's not available, or because it is costs money they don't have. In addition, their resistance is often lowered by poor diet, as well as by other disease. Malarial death in Africa is thus directly linked to poverty. Malaria is a justice issue.
Unless the world shows a greater commitment to tackling the disease, many of the Millenium Development Goals remain unattainable. Malaria is relevant to at least five of the eight MDGs: poverty eradication, universal primary education, child mortality reduction, maternal health improvement, and the combat of other diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Chris White of AMREF says: “We have the tools to both prevent and control this disease, but we lack sufficient resources to scale them up, particularly among the more remote and marginalized communities of Africa.”
So, what can be done about it? More tomorrow.
Tags: malaria africa africa malaria day health disease
Posted by Keith at April 22, 2005 04:08 PM
Comments
Thanks Keith! I learned quite a bit from your post. Love the blog.
Posted by: Brandon at April 22, 2005 08:11 PM
Wow. This is something to think about.
Posted by: Derek at April 23, 2005 11:21 PM
Thanks Keith! I've linked the articles here.
Posted by: steven at April 26, 2005 06:39 AM