End Malaria For Good
Malaria is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity worldwide, especially in the developing world. Malaria is an infectious disease that, despite being preventable and treatable, threatens the lives of 3.2 billion people around the world. Every year the disease accounts for over 438,000 deaths, the majority of which are in sub-Saharan Africa where a child dies every minute from malaria. Pregnant women and children under five years of age are especially vulnerable – high maternal mortality, low birth weight and maternal anaemia are other consequences of this devastating disease.
In 2015, there were 96 countries that had some degree of malaria transmission. The toll on children under five has been especially devastating, accounting for 70 percent of all malaria deaths.
The majority of malaria victims worldwide are children under the age of five
Despite massive progress in fighting malaria in the past decade, the parasite that causes the disease has evolved and become more difficult to treat in some parts of Asia. Growing parasite resistance to artemisinin, the key ingredient of the most effective treatment currently available for malaria, poses a great challenge to malaria control. That is why it is imperative for Royal Group Charity to maintain high levels of funding to contain the spread of the resistant parasite to Africa where it could reverse the present downward trend and lead to large scale epidemics in populations no longer fully immune to the disease.
THE SOLUTION
Malaria imposes an enormous cost on already stretched public health services and economies, yet it is entirely preventable and treatable with a combination of available tools and sustained financing. A comprehensive approach to malaria control, that includes protective insecticide treated nets, indoor spraying with insecticide, preventive treatment for pregnant women, diagnostic tests, effective drugs, education, surveillance, research and advocacy, will successfully continue to reduce the burden of the disease and control its spread. Intensive efforts will potentially lead to the elimination and finally the eradication of the disease.
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