EDITORIAL – Reflections on World Malaria Day 2011

by

How far have we come in the last four years?

Four years ago, it was estimated that a child died every 30 seconds from malaria, and that more than a million people each year were killed by this devastating and debilitating disease. Four years ago, the malaria advocacy partnership Roll Back Malaria organized the first World Malaria Day, and published the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP), which set comprehensive goals for the control of malaria world-wide, with the ultimate aim to eradicate malaria completely. [Read more…]

How Many Deaths Result from Malaria?

by

QUESTION:

Can you tell me, how many deaths result from malaria till today?

ANSWER

A lot! I think it is impossible to get an exact number, or even a decent guess – data on malaria deaths even in modern times are estimates at the best of times, and we have no way of knowing how many people were exposed to and/or died of malaria in ancient times.

Current estimates as to the annual number of deaths from malaria vary depending on which source you look at, but most agree that somewhere around 1 million people die every year from being infected with malaria. Of course, that number would have been lower in the past when total population numbers were also lower.

However, I think it would be fair to say that probably hundreds of millions of people have, over the course of history, died from being infected with malaria. More to the point, malaria continues to be a huge public health burden on huge portions of the world’s population, and disproportionately on the world’s poorest people, which makes it a top priority for disease advocacy, research and control initiatives.

How many people die from malaria annually?

by

QUESTION:

How many people die each year from malaria?

ANSWER:

There is a wide range of estimates for the total number of deaths caused by malaria, but the World Health Organisation generally reports “around a million” deaths each year from the disease, out of somewhere between 300-500 million cases. In total, it is estimated that 3.3 billion people are at risk from malaria, which is almost half the world’s population!

One reason for the high uncertainty in total numbers of deaths is that many malaria cases go unreported, and those at highest risk are often living in the world’s poorest parts of the world, where health services are patchy and underfunded. Moreover, throughout the world, children are some of the highest risk cases for severe malaria, and deaths are sometimes attributed to other causes which may be confounded by malaria, such as malnutrition, diarrhoea or respiratory infections.

What is certain is that many of those deaths from malaria are entirely preventable, through the use of insecticide treated bednets, improvements in local health infrastructure and encouraging early diagnosis and treatment of malarial episodes.

Is it rare to die if you get malaira?

by

QUESTION:

Is it rare to die if you get malaria? I know that every 45 seconds somebody dies from malaira, I just want to know if it is rare or not. What percentage of people who get malaria die?

ANSWER:

There isn’t an easy answer to this question.  The risk of death depends on the kind of malaria you get, your previous exposure to malaria and how fast you get treatment.  P. falciparum is mostly found in Africa and parts of Asia,  is the most serious and deadly type of malaria, and children are especially at risk of dying from it.  In your question you mentioned someone dying every 45 seconds….that quote comes from the World Health Organization where experts estimate that in Africa, a child dies from malaria every 45 seconds.

Globally, international agencies estimate that between 300-500 million people get malaria every year and about 1 million people die from it. So it isn’t a rare occurrence to die from malaria but it should be because we have the knowledge to prevent and treat the disease which would drastically lower the number of deaths.   People can take drugs as prevention and avoid mosquito bites by sleeping under a treated bednet; using mosquito repellent and avoiding being outside from dawn to dusk when mosquitoes bite.  If you do get malaria, recognizing the symptoms and getting treatment quickly can be life saving.

However even the estimated 1,000,000  malaria deaths each year may not be accurate because it’s not easy to get trusted statistics. This is because many people (especially in rural Africa and Asia) don’t go to the hospitals or clinics when they get sick—either they don’t recognize the symptoms or they can’t reach a clinic or hospital in time.  Even if they do get treatment, oftentimes medical reporting systems are weak.

Another issue is that sometimes deaths are not attributed to malaria but to another disease—for example in a young child a malaria death may be attributed to an acute respiratory infection which can also present with a high fever.

So in a nut shell, malaria is a serious disease, but we know how to lower the risk of getting it and we know that in most cases prompt treatment will prevent death.   The challenge is to raise awareness in countries with malaria to promote prevention measures and to improve access to effective health care.