Malaria is down but not out. While malaria-related deaths have been reduced by half over the last 20 years, malaria remains one of the leading causes of death, particularly in Africa. In fact, it is estimated that a child dies every 2 minutes from malaria. Pregnant women are also at a high risk of complications.
This World Malaria Day, all of us should redouble efforts to bring malaria to its knees. A few of the tools available to us are:
- Bed nets
- Malaria prophylaxis in pregnant women
- Environmental control of mosquitoes
- Early treatment with effective drug combinations
Hope is rising higher. After about 30 years in development, the first large-scale study of a malaria vaccine is underway in Malawi. Ghana and Kenya will follow soon. Although the vaccine was only about 26% effective in reducing sickness from malaria in early research, it still has the potential to save a lot of lives since so many children currently die from malaria. Let’s keep fingers crossed as we await the results of this important study.
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