Malaria Half a million children die from it

Dangerous tropical disease requires 500,000 victims under five every year

12/12/2013

About half a million children die every year worldwide from the tropical disease malaria. This sad result comes from the current one „World Malaria Report 2013“ the World Health Organization (WHO), which was presented yesterday in Washington to the public. According to estimates by the WHO, in 2012, 3.4 billion people lived in risk areas, mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Malaria in developing countries remains a huge problem
The current „World Malaria Report 2013“ The World Health Organization (WHO) makes it clear that malaria, a tropical disease transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, continues to be a huge problem, especially in developing countries, claiming hundreds of thousands every year. An estimated 3.4 billion people lived in hazardous areas last year, with over 200 million people directly affected by malaria. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, but Asia, Latin America and, to a lesser extent, the Middle East and parts of Europe are affected, according to the WHO report. The most vulnerable groups include small children, babies and pregnant women. It is estimated that nearly 630,000 people have died as a result of the disease, most of them children under five in Africa, WHO reports.

„1,300 young lives are lost every day due to malaria“
„This means 1,300 lives are lost every day due to malaria - a strong reminder that defeating the old enemy is still a long way off. The fact that so many people die from a mosquito bite is one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century“, such as the harsh words of WHO Director Margaret Chan at the presentation of the report in Washington. In order to be able to fight the disease effectively, however, the organization needed more financial resources. It is estimated that $ 5.1 billion will be needed annually by 2020 for treatment and prophylaxis, but currently only $ 2.5 billion will be available: „We need to fill the $ 2.6 billion annual gap to achieve end-to-end care and prevent malaria deaths, "Fatoumata Traoré Nafo, managing director of Fatoumata, said „Roll Back Malaria Partnership " - „This is our historic chance to defeat malaria“, Nafo continues.

Proportion of distributed mosquito nets significantly increased
However, according to the WHO, much progress has already been made in both prevention and treatment of the disease in recent years, even though a large proportion of those affected still lack access to all treatment options. In particular, the number of distributed mosquito nets in 2012 had again increased significantly, so that 136 million nets could be issued to residents in malaria areas. A further increase (to around 200 million networks) is planned for 2014, according to the WHO „a real opportunity for a turnaround“ suggestive. The supply of mosquito nets is a major problem in the fight against malaria - because overall, only about every second household in the affected areas is adequately equipped with protection networks, so there is an urgent need to catch up.

Increasing resistance of pathogens to the most effective malaria drug „artemisinin“
In addition, the control of the disease by increasing resistance of the malaria parasite against the most effective malaria drug „artemisinin“ and the Anopheles mosquito against insecticides. So was according to the WHO „The artemisinin resistance has been discovered in four countries in South-East Asia; insecticide resistance has been found in at least 64 countries.“

Accordingly, a lot of work has to be done in the next few years to reach the WHO goal of halting the spread of malaria by 2015 and then gradually eradicating it. „The remarkable gains against malaria are still fragile, "said WHO Director of the WHO Malaria Program, Dr. Robert Newman. „Over the next 10 to 15 years, the world will need innovative tools and technologies, as well as new strategic approaches to sustain and accelerate progress. "(Nr)