Malaria Control is Working Hard
 Malaria
accounts for one in five of all childhood deaths in Africa
according to rollbackmalaria.org,.
Controlling the spread of malaria will require medication
and strong forms of prevention that will include education
and dedication.
However, there has been a terrific breakthrough with treated
mosquito nets. Such treated nets are often called insecticide-treated
nets (ITN). Another technique showing promise is indoor residual
spraying (IRS) which is the spraying of inside walls with
insecticides. These applications appear to be the leading
source for the help in the prevention of Malaria in many African
countries. The distribution of insecticide treated mosquito
nets combined with the availability of anti-malarial drugs
is proving to have a positive effect on malaria control.
Facts About Malaria
- Malaria is infectious
- It is a killing blood disease
- It is spread by an insect call Anopheles female mosquito
- This parasite transmits this infection from human to
human
- It’s bite is deadly
Malaria kills over 750,000 people a year and over 90% of
those deaths occur in Africa and the majority of those are
children under five years of age. Once bitten, symptoms occur
within days after the attack:
- Fever
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Flu symptoms that erupt into this deadly malady
Malarial infection can lead to a coma developing into anaemia,
which is life-threatening in itself, and finally death.
Read more about Malaria here.
Finding a Solution
There is hope in site to control the spread of malaria but
it is yet at the early stages. Though drugs are being used,
the parasites become resistant to them.
Facts We Should Not Ignore
Here are a few researched facts on the subject according ”Despite
ongoing efforts to control the disease, malaria still remains
a serious public health problem in about 90 countries worldwide.
On a global scale, malaria causes 300-500 million cases and
results in 1.5-3 million deaths annually. Of these, approximately
80% of cases occur on the African continent. In the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) mortality ranges from
0 to 128 per 100,000 population” February 2010 the Malaria
Journal.
- Every 45 seconds a child dies of malaria
- Every year over 780,000 people die of malaria
- Children under 5 account for the majority of malaria
deaths
- The most deadly malaria is plasmodium falciparum
- Malaria is caused by a female mosquito that bites a night
- About 2000 people die from malaria daily in Africa
- 40% of Africa's health resources are used to treat malaria
- Malaria costs Africa $12 billion annually
How to Put it Right
Night time is the dreaded time; this is when the attacks of
the mosquitoes that carry the virus occur. This is when the
transmission of the disease is passed from insect to human.
Insecticide treated mosquito nets offer double the protection
of a regular untreated mosquito net to help control the spread
of malaria. Treated nets also protect others within the same
vicinity that are outside the net because mosquitoes are killed
upon contact with the insecticide. Nets can cover a large
bed which can sleep more than one person.
The Changes
Good quality medicines used correctly can reduce the risks
presented by these parasites and their resistance to certain
medication. There are means of eliminating death by malaria
but the solutions require dedication to new technological
innovations such as indoor residual spraying, which includes
spraying the inside walls of houses and must remain an important
part of the strategy to control the spread of malaria . IRS,
which has been the leading contributor to this point in reducing
child mortality in many African countries, kills the female
mosquito after she has drawn the blood. This reduces the malaria
transmission to another human being. Stronger vaccines are
being developed and availability and distribution are becoming
more accelerated.
Significant Changes
There has been a significant improvement with the use of Insecticide-treated
mosquito nets and indoor residual spraying. A decline of 20%
has been shown in the deaths of children under 5 with the
use of ITNs and IRS. It has been shown that the leading contributor
in reducing deaths in child malaria cases is the intervention
of ITNs and targeted IRS. The ongoing commitment by the international
community is required for long-term malaria control.
Article written by Anna DeGaborik
Anna DeGaborik is the author
for the All Mosquito
Netting Info website. She studies insect diseases and
prevention, specializing in mosquitoes.
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