Why malaria in africa

The fund will focus on improving the coordination, transparency, and flexibility of these efforts, while supporting national-level decisionmaking and leadership. Although malaria continues to take a toll on millions worldwide, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, different policy and program efforts are effectively addressing some of the challenges posed by this disease. Bed Nets Prevent Malaria in Kenya In Kenya, a public-private partnership involving workplace promotion of bed nets along with payroll purchasing schemes for employees at a cement factory reduced malaria cases by 80 percent and hospital admissions by 90 percent in one year, according to the World Bank.

The African Medical and Research Foundation AMREF , with funding from the international pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, created a bed-net industry by supplying community groups with sewing machines and netting material. Along with the drop in malaria cases, there is less absenteeism at work, increased productivity, and reduced health care costs. At the state level in Nigeria, governors are distributing bed nets at subsidized prices, supplying antimalarial drugs free of charge to children and pregnant women, and have allocated funds to the malaria budget.

Private-sector banks and oil companies are making bed nets available on credit for their employees. Vietnam Reduces Malaria Death Toll by 97 Percent in Five Years In the early s, the government of Vietnam began a concerted effort to control malaria through the provision of free insecticide-treated bed nets, the promotion of indoor spraying with insecticides, and the use of locally produced antimalarial drugs.

From to the death toll from malaria dropped by 97 percent, and the number of malaria cases fell by almost 60 percent, according to the WHO. These actions required major investments in training, disease reporting systems, supervision, and volunteer health workers. Community-Based Malaria Treatment Is Effective in Ethiopia The WHO reports that in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, a community-based program is using more than volunteers to educate and provide malaria medication to more than 1.

Over three years, there has been a 40 percent drop in deaths of children under age 5, and death rates from malaria are a third lower in villages participating in the program.

Malaria Foundation: www. Resource Library. Malaria Basics: Global Impact and Actions. Article Details Date January 10, Author Population Reference Bureau. People with severe malaria — usually caused by P. If malaria is not treated quickly, it can progress to severe illness, often leading to multiple organ failure in adults, or even death. Malaria in pregnant women can cause stillbirths, infant mortality, and low birth weight.

The best way to fight malaria is to prevent infection in the first place. WHO recommends that all people living in malaria transmission areas practise protection against malaria. Two common methods are: using insecticide-treated mosquito nets and indoor spraying. By forming a physical barrier between mosquitos and humans, nets are a simple and effective means of preventing infection, particularly if people sleep underneath one, as mosquitos emerge to feed at dawn and dusk.

More people in Africa are benefiting from insecticide-treated nets. Fumigating homes on an annual or semi-annual basis can also rapidly reduce malaria transmission. However, this method is not widely used in many sub-Saharan countries.

This is because mosquitos are increasingly resistant to earlier, less expensive forms of insecticide, and for some people, the newer, more effective forms are prohibitively expensive. Medicines can also be used for the prevention of malaria, especially for particularly at-risk population groups. These at-risk groups include young children, pregnant women, and travellers from malaria-free parts of the world who might not have built up any residual immunity.

WHO recommends that pregnant women in areas of Africa with moderate and high malaria transmission rates take an anti-malarial medicine like sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. More vulnerable people are receiving this potentially life-saving treatment in Africa each year. Malaria can also be prevented by using seasonal malaria chemoprevention. In , a total of However, about When malaria infection does occur, it is important that it be quickly diagnosed and treated. This means that a mild case can be stopped from developing into something more dangerous, even fatal, and it can also prevent malaria from spreading further.

WHO recommends taking four key steps for the effective diagnosis and treatment of malaria:. The strategy provides comprehensive technical guidance to countries and development partners. This approach will be driven by the eleven countries most affected by malaria.

In , these countries reported increases in malaria cases over the previous year. Download the full infographic. Many persons may reach adult age without having built protective immunity and are thus susceptible to the disease, including severe and fatal illness.

Costs to individuals and their families include purchase of drugs for treating malaria at home; expenses for travel to, and treatment at, dispensaries and clinics; lost days of work; absence from school; expenses for preventive measures; expenses for burial in case of deaths.

Costs to governments include maintenance, supply and staffing of health facilities; purchase of drugs and supplies; public health interventions against malaria, such as insecticide spraying or distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets; lost days of work with resulting loss of income; and lost opportunities for joint economic ventures and tourism.

The cost in lost economic growth is many times more than that. Pregnant woman having a blood smear taken at an antenatal clinic at the Maela Camp in Thailand near the Burmese Border. Pregnant women are at increased risk of malaria. Commercial Availability of Artesunate for Injection.

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