World Malaria Day: April 25, 2009

April 25, 2009 has been designated World Malaria Day. People who live in many parts of the world don’t worry about malaria, for the most part, but they should. Malaria is a disease that affects almost half of the world’s population in some way.

According to the World Health Organization :

Approximately half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, particularly those living in lower-income countries. It infects more than 500 million people per year and kills more than 1 million. The burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa but the disease also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and even parts of Europe.

Why does this affect us? Because we may go visit these countries, people may come from these areas, and because fellow humans are dying from what is often a preventable disease.

If you go to RollBackMalaria.org, you can see a map of the world that outlines which countries have no malaria, which ones are eliminating it, which are starting to get it under control, and which are still experiencing thousands of deaths.

How to control it:

Bed nets are one of the least expensive and easiest ways to control the spread of malaria. One bed net that can protect the sleeper or sleepers is just a few dollars to us in North America. Many schools and community groups are now fund raising to be able to pay for these bed nets.

After bed nets, spraying is helpful and – of course – medications.

According to RollBackMalaria.org :

The following interventions need to be delivered worldwide by 2010:

• More than 700 million insecticide-treated bednets – half of those in Africa
• More than 200 million of doses of effective treatment
• Indoor spraying for around 200 million homes annually
• Approximately 1.5 billion diagnostic tests annually

What it will cost

• In 2009, roughly $5.3 billion will be needed for malaria control worldwide
• In 2010, $6.2 billion will be needed
• From 2011 to 2020, roughly $5 billion per year will be need to sustain the gains of control measures.
• In addition, about $1 billion per year will be needed for research and development of new prevention and treatment tools

What is malaria?

Malaria is, for the most part, an insect-borne illness, which means that insects – in this case mosquitoes – spread parasites (Plasmodium ) from person to person. If we get rid of these mosquitoes or find ways to keep them from biting, the disease cannot be passed on. Very rarely, malaria may be contracted by infected blood, shared needle use, or passed from an infected mother to her unborn child.

Symptoms :

The symptoms may be vague at first, so if you’re traveling to an area that has malaria, if you’re not feeling well, it’s best to be checked as soon as possible. The symptoms include:

• headache
• nausea
• vomiting
• muscle pain
• severe shakes or muscle spasms
• chills

If the infection is acute, your liver may become tender and your spleen become enlarged often occur.

One type of malaria caused by P. falciparum infection affects the brain. If this happens, you could see:

• personality change
• confusion
• lethargy
• seizures

This particular type of malaria is the most serious and can cause seizures, coma, kidney failure and respiratory failure, which can lead to death.

Statistics from the WHO :

• Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
• A child dies of malaria every 30 seconds.
• There were 247 million cases of malaria in 2006, causing nearly one million deaths, mostly among African children.
• Malaria is preventable and curable.
• Approximately half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria, particularly those living in lower-income countries.
• Travellers from malaria-free areas to disease “hot spots” are especially vulnerable to the disease.
• Malaria takes an economic toll – cutting economic growth rates by as much as 1.3% in countries with high disease rates.