Excerpt From Roll Back Malaria
"What Is Malaria"

http://mosquito.who....

Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted from person to person through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. The disease exerts its heaviest toll in Africa, where around 90% of the more than one million deaths from malaria worldwide occur each year, this constitutes 10% of the continent's overall disease burden. Malaria causes at least 300 million cases of acute illness each year, and is the leading cause of deaths in young children. Pregnant women are the main adult risk group in most endemic areas of the world.

Malaria, is one of the major public health challenges eroding development in the poorest countries in the world. Malaria costs Africa more than US$ 12 billion annually. It has slowed economic growth in African countries by 1.3% per year, the compounded effects of which are a gross domestic product level now up to 32% lower than it would have been had malaria been eradicated from Africa in 1960.



Excerpt From Roll Back Malaria
"Africa Malaria Day 2002"

http://www.rbm.who.int/amd/abuja2002_facts.htm

Malaria kills over one million people each year, about 3,000 a day: the majority of victims are children. At least 300 million people suffer from acute malaria each year. Nine out of 10 cases occur in Africa south of the Sahara. Malaria is continuing to spread in Africa. The cheapest anti-malaria drug - chloroquine - is rapidly losing its effectiveness in almost all endemic countries. Population movements, such as seasonal workers and refugees into malaria-endemic regions and countries, are causing major disease outbreaks and impacting on economies. Malaria is a major killer of refugees and displaced persons in Africa. Effective malaria control has already led to dramatic declines in malaria death rates in Asia. Prompt and effective treatment of suspected malaria fever cases can significantly reduce malaria death - rates even more if the treatment can be administered in the home. The wider use of insecticide-treated bednets may reduce episodes of illness by 50 percent in areas of high transmission. The cost of malaria control and treatment drains Africa's economies. Endemic countries have to use scarce hard currency on drugs, nets and insecticides. Africa's GDP today would be up to 32 percent greater if malaria had been eliminated 35 years ago, according to estimates from a Harvard study.* Malaria-endemic countries are among the world's most impoverished. Malaria causes death, reduces the productivity of agriculture, affects tourism and external investment. The spread of drug-resistant malaria is substantially raising the costs of treatment. Multi-national firms choosing the location of foreign investments shun regions with high malaria transmission rates. Malaria kills a child every 40 seconds. Over 700,000 children under five will die needlessly from malaria this year. With acute malaria a child may die within 24 hours without prompt and effective treatment. In endemic countries, women are more likely to have malaria during pregnancy than at any other time. Pregnant women with malaria are more likely to develop anaemia, and with severe anaemia there is a higher risk of maternal death. Infants born to mothers with malaria are more likely to have low birth weight - the single greatest risk factor for death during the first month of life