Today April 25 people around the globe mark the
World Malaria Day with various activities. The theme for this year is “End
Malaria for Good”. There is indeed
already a sign of this being possible.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO),
a year after the World Health Assembly resolved to eliminate malaria from at
least 35 countries by 2030, World Malaria Day report shows this goal, although
ambitious, is achievable.
In 2015, all countries in the WHO European
Region reported, for the first time, zero indigenous cases of malaria, down
from 90 000 cases in 1995. Outside this region, 8 countries reported zero cases
of the disease in 2014: Argentina, Costa Rica, Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Paraguay,
Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates.
Another 8 countries each tallied fewer than
100 indigenous malaria cases in 2014. And a further 12 countries reported
between 100 and 1000 indigenous malaria cases in 2014.
However, despite this seeming success story,
about 3.2 billion people (almost half of the world population) are at risk of the
disease. This shows it is not yet hurrah
especially in the third world countries.
According
to the WHO in Nigeria, about 300,000 children die of malaria yearly. While the WHO reports a 71% drop in
mortality rates for African children under 5 years, they are especially at risk
from the disease, with UNICEF naming malaria as a main death cause
Malaria is an
infectious disease, caused by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. Its symptoms include fever, headache,
chills and vomiting, which may be initially hard to diagnose as malaria.
According to WHO, if not treated within 24 hours, the disease can turn to
severe illness, often leading to death.
