|
Each year 300
million cases of malaria are recorded worldwide,
resulting in more than a million deaths. Nearly
90% of these deaths occur in Africa, which is
home to the most deadly species of mosquitoes
that carry the disease. Most deaths occur among
children, with malaria being the leading cause
of mortality in children under five in Africa.
Each year 200 000 newborn babies are killed by
malaria according to a report by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Malaria is understood as a disease of poverty as
well as
a cause of poverty. Economists believe
that the disease imposes a growth penalty of up
to 1.3% per year in some African countries. Not
only does malaria result in loss of life and
lost productivity due to illness and premature
death, it also hampers children's schooling and
social development through absenteeism and
permanent neurological and other damage caused
by severe episodes of the disease. One of the
greatest challenges facing Africa in the fight
against malaria is drug resistance.
Growing political commitment by African leaders
for action
on malaria was given a boost by the
founding of the
Roll Back Malaria global
partnership initiated by the WHO,
UNDP, UNICEF
and the World Bank in 1998. The partnership
seeks to work with governments, other
development agencies, NGOs, and private sector
companies to reduce
the human and socio-economic
costs of malaria. The
Abuja Declaration, signed
in April 2000, endorsed a concerted strategy to
tackle the problem of malaria across Africa
before 2010. The 25th of April will become
Africa Malaria Day. The commemoration for 2003,
will focus on pregnant women and children, the
two groups most vulnerable to malaria. The
slogan is ‘Roll Back Malaria, Protect Women and
Children!’ Malaria Day will
also promote the use
and supply of treated bed nets and will lobby
for increased resources, stronger community
leadership and more action for malaria
prevention
and control.
Rally teams, each including a national malaria
control officer, a journalist, a health
representative and an official will travel
through affected countries to spread the word
about the disease. The 2003 sub-regional race
began at Ndumo in KwaZulu-Natal and will end in
Tanzania on
Africa Malaria Day. Countries
visited will include Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia,
Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The
visits will help to increase partnership and
sponsorship for malaria control in southern
Africa and will raise the national and
international profile of malaria control across
southern Africa. Due to the high costs of the
campaign, appeals were made to local companies
for sponsorship. "The battle for malaria
prevention should not only be fought by those
infected as it concerns everyone,"
the regional
co-coordinator for the malaria control programme
declared. |
