World Malaria Day 2015 : Invest in the future to defeat malaria

Ranjan K Baruah *

World Malaria Day Logo from worldmalariaday.org

Malaria, being one of the vector bone disease is still causing deaths and bringing problems amongst many people. Though there has been much progress but due to lack of adequate funding it is still a trouble for many people.

While huge gains in the fight against malaria have been made in recent years, the disease still has a devastating impact on people’s health and livelihoods around the world, particularly in Africa, where it kills almost half a million children under 5 each year.

According to the latest estimates, released in December 2014, there were about 198 million cases of malaria in 2013 (with an uncertainty range of 124 million to 283 million) and an estimated 584 000 deaths (with an uncertainty range of 367 000 to 755 000).

Malaria mortality rates have fallen by 47% globally since 2000 and by 54% in the WHO African Region. Most deaths occur among children living in Africa where a child dies every minute from malaria. Malaria mortality rates among children in Africa have been reduced by an estimated 58% since 2000.

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites. The parasites are spread to people through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes, called “malaria vectors”, which bite mainly between dusk and dawn. Malaria is transmitted exclusively through the bites of Anopheles mosquitoes.

The intensity of transmission depends on factors related to the parasite, the vector, the human host, and the environment. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. However, Asia, Latin America, and to a lesser extent the Middle East and parts of Europe are also affected. In 2014, 97 countries and territories had ongoing malaria transmission.

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to fight diseases like malaria. It has progress and achieved many of its targets. There are many programmes of government to counter disease like malaria and provide health support to individual who suffer from it. We should not forget that vector borne diseases like malaria might increase in our region due to climate change.

25 April has been observed as World Malaria Day. Day is a chance to highlight the advances that have already been made in malaria prevention and control, and to commit to continued investment and action to accelerate progress against this deadly disease. Funding remains inadequate as international and domestic funding for malaria control and elimination totaled US$ 2.7 billion in 2013.

Although this represents a threefold increase since 2005, it is still significantly below the US$ 5.1 billion that is required to achieve global targets for malaria control and elimination. More funding is needed to meet the targets.

This day gives an opportunity to international organisation like World Health Organisation, other global organisation, national governments, and civil society to focus on malaria. As an individual we can also contribute to fight the diseases. We need to take care of ourselves and spread the awareness amongst others so that there is no death due to malaria.

(With inputs from WHO publication )