There are more people infected with malaria now than at any point in history, and about 2 million people die from the disease each year. Close to half of those deaths are children in sub-Saharan Africa.

In response to the growing problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef have published a report to mark Africa Malaria Day and support a global effort to treat and prevent malaria.

In the last 20 years, the number of malaria cases has quadrupled and warnings of drug-resistant malaria have been confirmed. According to the report, chloroquine, which is the least expensive, most widely available of the malaria drugs, is used so often that is now close to useless against the disease.

The report is part of a campaign called Roll Back Malaria (RBM). One of the campaign’s goals is to cut malaria deaths in Africa in half by 2010.

The report mentions four key strategies to reaching this goal:

• Insecticide-treated bed nets should be made widely available. These bed nets have been found to reduce malaria transmission by 17 percent, yet fewer than three percent of African children sleep under such nets.

• Pregnant women, who along with babies are particularly at risk, should receive bed nets and anti-malarial medicines as a priority.

• Next-generation drugs, which are hundreds of times more expensive than chloroquine, must be made available to treat chloroquine-resistant malaria.

• Malaria Early Warning Systems, which use weather forecasting and data to help alleviate outbreaks, must be created. The systems have already proven effective in trials.
  

Malaria costs Africa about $12 billion a year, and in 2002 African countries contributed $256 million to the new Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis And Malaria.

Female mosquitoes spread malaria (males don’t bite). There are 170 malaria parasites in total, which mosquitoes spread between reptiles, birds and mammals. About two-dozen species of Anopheles mosquito carry human malaria, which results in symptoms such as fever, chills and cramps. The disease causes severe anaemia and can result in a blockage of the blood supply to the brain, which can be fatal.

According to WHO and Unicef, proper treatment and prevention efforts could reduce malaria transmission by up to 60 percent and lower death rates in young children by around one-fifth.

Nature April 21, 2003

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Seems to me the media has seriously distorted reality when it places so much emphasis on SARS and so little emphasis on the real killers of humanity. Perhaps it is because most of the media is not based in Africa, and not many Westerners are affected. If you ever were afflicted with malaria though, it is just as important to understand what not to do for malaria as what to do for it. I strongly advise against using traditional drugs for malaria, especially Lariam, as it has been associated with large numbers of side effects. I also wouldn’t put too much hope in genetically modified mosquitoes to eliminate the risk of malaria. Primary prevention with mosquito nets sure makes a lot of sense. Additionally, magnetic fields may be useful for treating malaria, and there are other non-toxic alternatives discussed in the links below. Related Articles: Magnetic Fields May Destroy Malaria Lab Tests Find Garlic Potent Against Malaria and Cancer Scientists Plan To Wipe Out Malaria With GM Mosquitoes Malaria Drug Lariam Creating Questions Amino Acid Could Help Treat Malaria