Not all deaths are from fancy diseases: Malaria still kills

world Malaria Report.

how common is it? WHO reports:

Key facts In 2021, nearly half of the world's population was at risk of malaria. That year, there were an estimated 247 million cases of malaria worldwide. The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 619 000 in 2021. The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden

there is a new vaccine that gives limited protection, and work is being done on controlling mosquitoes by releasing sterile mosquitoes or infecting them with a fungus that kills them.

But the older ways still work if done diligantly: draining mosquito breeding areas still work, as does spraying insecticide, insect repellant, covering up, and using mosquito nets.

that is why malaria is now rare in the Philippines.

WHO Reports:

Fifteen years ago, the Philippines reported 75 000 cases of malaria every year. No surprise, any talk back then of a Philippines free of malaria would have been thought fanciful. But now malaria has been delisted from the top ten leading causes of disease and death, and elimination of malaria is seen as a real possibility in the near future.. Indeed, the Philippines is a great example of how to successfully make progress to eliminate malaria – the subject of a new manual launched by WHO for World Malaria Day. Province by province the Philippines is being declared as malaria free and many more provinces have reached near-zero malaria cases. Overall, since 2005, malaria cases have dropped by 83% and malaria deaths by 92% in the Philippines.

 the main area where it still is endemic is the island of Palawan. The government aims to eliminate all Malaria by 2030. One wonders if spending a lot of money on covid might set back this goal, but so far that is still the plan.

 Village clinics or health workers that monitor for local breeding areas and diagnose and treat early cases can also help prevent the spread of the disease. 

 

The problem? 

There are several types of malaria, and the most virulent type, Falciparum malaria, is resistant to many antibiotics, and one of the scandals about counterfeit medicines is that they are often don't work, so people die of malaria, especially kids.

 Dr. Cambell often links to Andrew Wefwafwa's work in rural Uganda where he runs a clinic and a lot of preventive health services...Here he discusses his recent bout with malaria.

Been there, done that. albeit 30 years ago. Sigh.