Malaria - the Killer in Africa

MALARIA-THE KILLER IN AFRICA

Introduction:

In Africa, malaria ranks third in the major infectious diseases dreaded in Africa. According to a survey in 2003, about 90% of the malaria deaths and 70% of deaths of children under five taking place in the world today occur in Sahara, south of Africa. In 1994, mortality due to malaria was estimated to be one million deaths every year, 90% of clinical malaria cases occurred in Sub Saharan Africa. Majority of the infections are caused by protozoan of genus Plasmodium Falciparum which is the most precarious amongst the four deadly malarial parasites and has only one host, which are the Homo sapiens. Malaria is transmitted by the bite of the most effectual malaria vector, mosquito Anopheles gambiae which is widely spread in Africa and thus the life cycle of the parasite exists between the humans and Anopheles. Fever is the main symptom of this disease. Although malaria was one of the first infectious diseases to be studied and treated with a drug, scientists are still trying to find the right cure and vaccination for it today. It is the biggest killer of children under 5 and pregnant women, as their immune system are always comparatively weaker. No country in Africa being south of Sahara has shown any decline in deaths due to malaria. According to recent survey, malaria is responsible for about one fifth of young child deaths in Africa. About one third of clinic visits and a quarter of hospital admissions in malaria affected countries are for malaria, which implies the tremendous demands on Africa's frail health infrastructure. The people being constantly exposed to this disease get immune to it which can be unstable and might disappear if one is away from the disease infected area for long. People dying due to malaria are also children or adults from other parts of the country or from higher altitudes where malaria transmission is at nil, or from other countries where malaria doesn't exist and the ones that are not immune to it. Sub-Saharan Africa was never given too much emphasis for the removal of malaria because of its huge mass of land, loads of maintenance and high costs that were convincing enough to not make these countries part of the program.

Malaria climbing up:

Other than Aids, malaria is the only disease that has been diffusing in the 80's and 90's. There is no single cure for malaria and the establishment of a successful vaccine is measured to be ages away. The causes of malaria, prevention measures and clinical responses are all researched and understood but are not being implemented well.

The further expansion of malaria is caused by various other factors in Africa such as rapidly spreading resistance of malaria parasites to newly developed drugs, civil unrest in many countries, migration of population to highly malaria affected areas under difficult conditions, migration of non immune Africans from non-malarial areas to highly affected areas, for reasons such as agriculture and trade, climatic changes such as changes in rainfall patterns etc, high birth rate leading to rapid increase in population under the age of five, various socioeconomic factors leading to reduction in budget for health and the lack of funds for drugs, and social factors such as poverty etc.

We know that cultures are interconnected systems, because of which change in a part of a culture can bring about changes in the other parts. At times these changes can be beneficial for some and disadvantageous for the rest which brings about the problems of morbidity and mortality. The revival of malaria can be further deeply understood by looking at the cultural factors that could be responsible for it. We can divide culture into three partitions which are economy, social stratification and ideology.

Economy:

Irrigation is carried out for the intensification of agriculture because of which there is an increase in the breeding of mosquitoes and enhancement of malaria without any role of chloroquine resistance in malaria parasite involved. Another reason could be the disappointingly designed DDT supplies which might not be sufficient and effective enough. Labor migration and modern transportation also plays tremendous roles in spreading and introducing malaria to other areas. Also with the more utilization of lands and building projects, there is lesser importance given to ground water control which can be one of the reasons behind malaria in urban areas.

Social stratification:

Poor people are the ones at the highest risk of being infected with malaria and a lot more frequently as compared to the relatively richer population. One of the main reasons behind it would be low income, which would hinder them from getting access to health facilities; they would live in poor housing which would not protect them from anophelines and would be undernourished and will be surrounded by harmful drainage control leading to further increase in anopheline densities. These malaria deaths could be depleted if these people had enough economic resources and adequate medical care needed for their treatment. This shows the presence of higher social stratification with the inequality in power distribution.

Ideological Factor:

There have been major changes brought about when it comes to discussing about malaria and its policies. A lot of times the malaria eradication campaigns have brought about reduction in malaria but at the same time introduced more technological and administrative problems that made the eradication mission seem impossible. Starting from 1960's, funding for malaria activities have been at a decline due to a change brought about in the ideas of policy makers.

Environmental conditions:

Warm temperatures and climatic changes can bring about an increase in the growth and division of the pathogenic organisms. Further more global warming can bring about enhancement in reproduction and expansion of these pests. Environmental degradation due to environmental change or human activities pushes these mosquitoes to areas of human habitation which is further harmful. All the above changes such as heat, increased ultra violet radiations, and pollutants leading to malnutrition change leads to weakening of the hosts immune system.

Efforts:

Finding a cure to dissolve malaria has been harder than expected. Different intensities in different countries require different kinds of drugs which eventually lose their effectiveness as the parasite soon develops resistance to them. Some of these drugs being chloroquine, pyrimethamine, chloroguanide,