Malaria still haunts Africa

Today is Africa Malaria Day, a day set aside to contemplate the ravages that this disease continues to wreak on those living in Africa. Each day, an estimated 3,000 Africans die from the mosquito-borne illness, and 300-500 million clinical cases occur yearly. The disease is particularly deadly to infants and pregnant women. Malaria is also blamed for lowering GNP growth by as much as 1.3% per year.

Africa Malaria Day began seven years ago as a way of reaffirming the commitment African governments made in the Abuja Declaration of 2000 to halve the number of cases by 2010. While organizations such as the Medicines for Malaria Venture focus on drug development, better distribution of simple tools such as insecticide-impregnated sleeping nets and insecticide sprays could cut the incidence of the disease by 45%. However, to date only 10% of those who could use such nets do so, due to lack of supply and education.

In 2005, President Bush created his Malaria Initiative to attack this problem, allocating $1.2 billion over five years. In 2004, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave $42.6 million for the development of a semi-synthetic form of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin.

To honor the occasion, the U.S. government has also declared today Malaria Awareness Day. Through the vigorous use of DDT, the disease was all but eradicated from our country by the early 1950s. Before then, though, it was a deadly threat here too.