Did you know?

Malaria is DEADLY! There are around 1,000,000 deaths associated with malaria each; among them 85% are children at pre-school age. Malaria is EXPENSIVE! Malaria is estimated to decrease the economic growth by 1.3% around sub-Saharan Africa countries, which equals to 12,000,000,000 US dollars. For many countries in Africa, this slow down may lead to negative growth rate.

Why malaria is so COSTLY: a look at malaria and human resource

Apart from direct human pain and suffering, malaria also destroys human resources indirectly. These indirect losses are hard to be measured in dollars. For families, malaria makes children absent from schools and increases risks in pregnancy for mothers as well as children. For households, malaria keeps farmers to plant subsistence crops rather than labour-intensive crops in harvest season. For investors, malaria is the reason that they avoid to invest in malaria infected regions. For, tourist industry, malaria is huge obstacle to attract tourists to visit such areas. The trap of malaria has become a part of everyday life in many African communities.

Malaria is preventable, BUT

Malaria is treatable, but anti-malarial drugs are often not available in those African communities affected by the disease. Therefore, prevention is the best way to deal with malaria. One of the best tools to prevent the spread of malaria is through distribution of mosquito bed nets. Mosquito bed nets will reduce the risk of people being bitten by mosquitoes while sleeping at night. Therefore, prevention is the best way to combat malaria; it does not only just save lives but it also gives the country a chance to maintain its labour productivity.

A quick lesson on Malaria

We know Malaria is spread by mosquitoes, but how does this occur?

People get Malaria from a certain type of mosquito called the Anopheles mosquito. When a female Anopheles mosquito carries a parasite called Plasmodium they become the transporter of the disease.

Because the Malaria parasites are mixed in with the saliva of the infected insect the human body ingests the disease when bitten. The human liver acts as a breeding ground for this parasite and they multiply. In turn, this infects healthy red blood cells causing the person to develop Malaria.

Once a person is diagnosed with Malaria they can pass the disease on in a number of ways including blood transfusions, organ transplants or shared needle usage. A new born baby can be born with Malaria or obtain it during birth from an infected mother. This is called Congenital Malaria.

When someone contracts Malaria they do not know they have it straight away. It takes between 10 days and 4 weeks for symptoms to appear. This is dangerous because the unaware person can pass the disease on before they know they have it.

When symptoms do start to appear the infected person can expect a fever with shaking chills, headaches, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Malaria is life-threatening when left untreated. In addition to this, the parasites have developed a resistance to medication in many developing countries. People that have been treated for Malaria can also experience a relapse and become sick again several months later.

If the disease is treated promptly and correctly it is curable, but unfortunately many regions are too poor to afford the proper medical treatment required.

MosQuito & Me: Strategise with volunteers!

Strategise with volunteers!: Busy working away on Sat morning (3rd of Sep), our Nothing but Nets project volunteers met to discuss about the strategies needed for promot...