The World Health Organization says it is confident that
deaths from malaria could be stopped entirely.
Spread
by the bites of infected mosquitoes, the illness is both preventable and
treatable.
Global
efforts over the last decade have already halved the number of people dying
from malaria - a "tremendous achievement", says WHO's director
general Dr Margaret Chan.
So,
what are we doing right and what more needs to be done?
The
scale of the problem
In 2014, 97 countries
and territories have malaria transmission, and an estimated 3.3 billion people
are at risk of being infected. Continue..
The disease burden is
highest in Africa - 90% of all malaria deaths occur here.
But there is reason
for hope.
Malaria mortality
rates have dropped by 54% in the WHO Africa Region. And the number of people
infected has fallen by a quarter - from 173 million in 2000 to 128 million in
2013. This is despite a 43% increase in the African population living in
malaria transmission areas.
Two new countries -
Azerbaijan and Sri Lanka - reported zero indigenous cases for the first time in
2013.
Eleven others -
Argentina, Armenia, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Oman, Paraguay,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - succeeded in maintaining zero cases.
While malaria is
indiscriminate, the heaviest toll is on the poorest and most vulnerable
communities.
Children
aged five and under and who live in Africa account for 78% of all malaria
deaths.
Young
children, pregnant women and individuals with a weakened immune system, are at
particular risk of developing serious illness if they become infected with
malaria.
An
estimated 278 million people in Africa still live in households without a
single insecticide-treated bed net, and about 15 million pregnant women remain
without access to preventive treatment for malaria.
Bed nets have been shown to cut
the incidence of malaria cases by half.
Access
to insecticide-treated bed nets has increased substantially. In 2013, almost
half of all people at risk of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa had access to an
insecticide-treated net, compared to 3% in 2004.
Another
214 million bed nets are scheduled for delivery to endemic countries in Africa
by year-end, but this still may not be enough.
In 2013, 123 million people
around the world were protected from malaria by coating houses in insecticide
spray to kill any visiting mosquitoes.
In
Africa, 55 million people, or 7% of the population at risk, lived in households
that were regularly sprayed.
But
indoor residual spraying has decreased in recent years, and insecticide
resistance has been reported in 49 countries around the world.
Pregnant women living in
malarious areas should be offered antimalarial medicine as routine, even if
they do not have any signs of infection.
This is
because malaria can have devastating consequences for the mother and child.
The
proportion of women receiving this treatment has been increasing over time, but
the levels remain below target.
Overall,
57% of pregnant women in 37 countries received at least one dose of
antimalarial medicine in 2013.
But
fewer than a fifth of pregnant women received the three or more doses
recommended by WHO, (based on findings from nine countries).
Progress
in adopting and rolling out preventive therapies for children has been even
slower.
As of
2013, only six of the 16 countries where WHO recommends preventive therapies
for children under five have adopted the treatment as national policy.
Even though access to rapid
diagnostic testing and drug treatment have been strengthened, millions of
people continue to lack access to these crucial interventions.
In
2013, 62% of patients with suspected malaria in public health facilities in the
WHO African Region received a diagnostic test, compared with 40% in 2010.
And
public health facilities had enough antimalarial drugs, called ACTs, to treat
more than 70% of patients who presented for care.
But
only a small proportion of children sick with malaria received ACTs (artemisinin-based
combination therapies) - largely because they were not brought forward for
treatment, a problem which experts say needs to be urgently addressed.
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