Facts on Malaria and how it can be Prevented

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes.
About 3.2 billion people – almost half of the world’s population – are at risk of malaria.
Young children, pregnant women and non-immune travellers from malaria-free areas are particularly vulnerable to the disease when they become infected.
Malaria is preventable and curable, and increased efforts are dramatically reducing the malaria burden in many places.
Between 2000 and 2015, malaria incidence among populations at risk (the rate of new cases) fell by 37% globally. In that same period, malaria death rates among populations at risk fell by 60% globally among all age groups, and by 65% among children under 5.
Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2015, the region was home to 88% of malaria cases and 90% of malaria deaths.

• Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable.
• In 2017, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria in 87 countries.
• The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 435 000 in 2017.
• The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2017, the region was home to 92% of malaria cases and 93% of malaria deaths.
• Total funding for malaria control and elimination reached an estimated US$ 3.1 billion in 2017. Contributions from governments of endemic countries amounted to US$ 900 million, representing 28% of total funding.
• Malaria is caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.

The symptoms of malaria can begin as early as six to eight days after a bite from an infected mosquito. They include high fever (up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit) with shaking chills, profuse sweating, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and feeling faint when you stand up or sit up quickly.
If treatment is delayed, more severe complications of malaria can occur. Most people who develop these complications are infected with the P. falciparum species. With proper treatment, symptoms of malaria usually go away quickly, with a cure within two weeks. Without proper treatment, malaria episodes (fever, chills, sweating) can return periodically over a period of years. After repeated exposure, patients will become partially immune and develop milder disease.
Malaria can be prevented, one effective way to prevent malaria is to avoid mosquito bites with the following strategies:

With the mortality rate on the increase as a result of malaria, there is no better time to say- “it’s high time we invest in the future of our unborn generations in order to #EndMalariaForGood to its game. This means we start acting more learned by putting to practice all we know on managing malaria and staying disease-free. It doesn’t stop at that, we need to go further, get more informed on the subject matter because it does matter. Let’s put a stop to self-medications and imbibe the habit of going to the clinic to run a proper test; this will reduce the rate of drug abusers in our nation and raise the ratio of those enlightened in the populace. Together lets end malaria for good.