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April 24, 2005
Africa Malaria Day - Part 3: Obstacles
Malaria kills nearly 1 million children in Africa/year. We have the tools to prevent and treat it. So why is it still such a big killer?
1. Poverty
"In Africa today, malaria is understood to be both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty." (RBM) Families cannot afford the drugs or mosquito nets. And African countries often don't have the resources to develop effective anti-malarial campaigns. Often they have had to cut back education and health spending, for example, in order to repay the interest on debt from western loans. It would cost about $2b to put effective malaria control in place. In the meantime, malaria costs African countries $12b/year.
2. Conflict.
Up to 30% of Africa’s malaria deaths are in countries where war, food shortages and displacement affect large numbers of people. Today, over 120 million people in Africa alone are living in countries affected by such emergencies. Malaria deaths during these events are usually more than those caused by the conflict itself. The chaos following civil unrest can destroy health systems, cut food supplies and expose people to many infections. Poor living conditions in temporary camps and war-affected towns increase disease, and weaken people’s immune defense. (See RBM)
3. Practical considerations.
To put an effective long-term anti-malarial strategy in place, also requires training, education, reliable distribution to remote areas, and workable structures and partnerships, and these are not always easy. Roll Back Malaria is a main partnership working to bring countires and organisations together to combat malaria. Although they have had some successes (see also here), they have also been criticised for inefficiency. There have also been problems with supply shortages of drugs.
4. Lack of international commitment
Clearly, combatting malaria requires financial, practical, and legislative help internationally. As AMREF said: "We have the tools to both prevent and control this disease, but we lack sufficient resources." More financial investment is needed to assure that affordable (therefore subsidised) drugs are available, and that organisations like RBM have the necessary funding to operate properly. The appropriate use of DDT should be supported. Poor countries' debt should be forgiven, to allow them to spend resources on priority issues such as health and education. And aid and trade should be reformed to be made more effective for poor countries.
So what can we do? The final part tomorrow...
Tags: malaria africa africa malaria day health disease
Posted by Keith at April 24, 2005 09:56 AM
Comments
these are excellent posts, keith. i was planning to do a post along these lines, but you've done such a good job distilling, organizing, and presenting these clearly. so i'll just send people your way, if that's ok.
i'm really looking forward to part 4.
Posted by: zalm at April 25, 2005 09:46 AM
Thanks for your encouragement! I've enjoyed bringing the info together, because it is something that touches the lives of people around me all the time. But I wasn't sure it would actually interest anyone else out there.
Cheers.
Posted by: Keith at April 25, 2005 12:39 PM
Poverty, debt, unfair trade... malaria is just another in a long list of problems that can be traced back to injust systems perpetrated upon Africa by the powerful. Thanks for your voice for justice.
Posted by: steven at April 26, 2005 06:43 AM