Malaria is particularly devastating in Africa, where it is a leading killer of children. In fact, there are 10 new cases of malaria every second. Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies from a malaria infection.
Forty percent of the world’s population lives in malaria endemic countries, and its treatment consumes nearly 40 percent of these countries’ public health resources. In addition to the burden on local healthcare systems, malaria illness and death costs Africa approximately $12 billion per year in lost productivity. The effects permeate almost every sector.
Malaria:
•Increases school absenteeism
•Decreases tourism
•Inhibits foreign investment
•Affects crop production
Malaria has been brought under control and even eliminated in many parts of Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Yet in Africa, with increasing drug resistance and struggling health systems, malaria infections have increased over the last three decades.
Malaria is Both Preventable and Treatable
While malaria remains one of the deadliest diseases on the African continent, infections can be prevented either by spraying insecticides indoors or by sleeping under long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets. Additionally, anti-malarial drugs, such as artemisinin and other combination therapies (if used early enough) can be used to treat malaria once it is contracted.
Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets
Bed nets work by creating a protective barrier against deadly-malaria carrying mosquitoes that bite at night. A family of four can sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net, safe from malaria, for four to five years. The benefits of bed nets extend even further than protecting those sleeping underneath them. The insecticide woven into each net makes entire communities safer – killing and repelling mosquitoes so that they can’t go on to bite others who may not be protected by a net.
Although $10 for a bed net may not sound like much, the cost makes them out of reach for most people at risk of malaria, many of whom survive on less than $1 a day. Nets are a simple, life-saving solution, but we need your help to provide them to those in need. Join us now. Send a net and save a life.
Anti-Malarial Drugs
Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are the most effective drugs currently available for treating malaria. ACTs and other drugs can be used by pregnant women to prevent malaria-related low birth weight, which accounts for nearly 100,000 infant deaths annually in Africa.
Other Preventative Measures
In addition to using long-lasting nets, malaria can be prevented through a process known as Indoor Residual Spraying, or IRS. During IRS campaigns, insecticide is applied to the inside walls of individual homes. Mosquitoes that land on the walls of these homes are then killed, preventing the transmission of malaria. In special circumstances, teams are also organized to eliminate or treat mosquito breeding sites.
