In commemoration of the World Malaria day celebrated annually on the 25th of April, we will be focusing on Malaria which has been an age long source of continuing morbidity and mortality in the developing world, tropical and subtropical regions and especially in sub Saharan Africa.
It is transmitted by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito in to an individual.
It is carried in the blood to the liver where it completes it's life cycle and then returns to the blood stream where it can then be picked up by another mosquito during a bite, to be transmitted to another person.
The incubation period is roughly 2 weeks.
Signs and symptoms include:
Headache, body and joint aches, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, chills, rigors and a high fever.
Stagnant water may serve as a breeding place for mosquitoes. Poor sanitation may aid this, with old tires, cans and 'old improperly disposed of' containers, serving as sources of stagnant water.
Blocked and dirty drainage, continuous and poorly managed irrigation systems, untreated water sources and tanks can all aid in the propagation of malaria by providing a conducive environment for mosquitoes to grow.
91% of the cases in year 2010 was said to have occurred in Africa.
In year 2012 there were about 216 million cases of malaria globally, and an estimated 655,000 deaths majority of which occurred amongst the under five population in Africa.
In year 2013, some improvement was seen with 198 million cases globally and 584,000 deaths recorded.
These alarming figures were obtained after a lot of work has been done globally to reduce the occurrence of malaria and the ensuing deaths over several years.
Mortality rates for malaria is said to have decreased by 47% globally since year 2000, with 54% reduction in mortality seen in Africa.
The economic burden is often enormous in the affected countries.
The cost to the individual includes : cost of purchasing medications and obtaining treatment.
To the country : days missed from work due to illness, subsidizing the cost of medications and treatment in endemic areas, organizing sanitary exercises to spray large areas with insecticides, funding of public health campaigns.
It's time to re examine our methods and deliberate on how we can effectively and significantly reduce the under five mortality resulting from malaria in Subsaharan Africa, especially in Nigeria and the Democratic republic of Congo where about 40% of the said deaths globally from malaria have occurred in recent times.
Several programs and initiatives are ongoing to curb malaria.
MDG 6 focuses on efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
The World health assembly in 2007 demanded a 75% reduction in the malaria burden globally by year 2015.
The Roll back malaria initiative and a lot of other programs have also helped.
The pertinent question currently is this : how close have we come in achieving the set objectives?
It is clear given the 2012 and 2013 figures on the cases and mortality from malaria that a lot still needs to be done.
In my opinion focussing more attention on some other MDGs such as 1 and 7c : (which is to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who earn less than a dollar per day and those with no access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation respectively) would have helped to give the needed push in our journey to eradicate malaria.
Malaria has been associated more with poverty. It's been said to cause and worsen poverty, little wonder there are more cases of malaria in the poorest nations of the world.
Focussing more attention on poverty eradication will help reduce the cases of malaria that occur globally.
The richer individuals and families become, the more they are able to protect themselves and their neighbors from malaria.
Hence, boosting the economy of a nation helps in the fight against malaria.
Making more jobs available and increasing the wages per hour all help the fight.
Governments need to pay more attention to the living conditions of the people especially those in the impoverished nations. The cleaner the environment, the more difficult it is for mosquitoes to thrive.
Susceptible water sources should be treated from time to time. Bushes and shrubs around houses should be kept low.
Seminars should be organized to educate the people on the basic principles of sanitation and how this helps in disease prevention.
Governments should organize weekly or monthly sanitation days wherein movement is restricted and people are made to clean their environment.
Proper refuse disposal facilities should be made available to aid this process.
It should be made compulsory for under five children and pregnant women to receive safe, preventive medications against malaria.
The use of insecticide treated nets and spraying of homes should be encouraged and propagated by the media.
Good quality insecticide treated nets should be made affordable to the general public, especially those in the rural areas.
More malaria treatment centers should be built and properly equipped to effectively diagnose and treat malaria within the shortest possible time frame.
The use of Artemisinin based combined therapy (ACT) for treatment should be advocated in endemic areas.
School hostels, dormitories and public places should be made less conducive for mosquitoes.
At this point we would love to appreciate the efforts of all organizations, groups and initiatives that have helped in the fight against malaria globally and especially in Africa.
Without you, we would not be at this point in the battle.
As the MDGs expire at the end of this year (2015), we would love to advocate for stronger programs targeted not just at the prevention of cases and mortality from malaria, but also with a focus to eliminate malaria from the globe.
It is my belief that with the right attitudes and effective collaboration malaria will soon become a thing of the past on our planet.
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