What does the goverment do to help malaria?

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QUESTION

Does the goverment help malaria?

ANSWER

Many governments around the world assist in controlling malaria. Some countries, like Australia and the United States, used to have malaria transmission occur within their own borders, but through dedicated control programs, have managed to eradicate the disease locally. In these cases, the government coordinated huge programs of draining standing water, spraying insecticides and ensuring that health clinics were equipped to diagnose and quickly treat any human cases.

Nowadays, the governments of the US and Australia, along with many other countries which do not have malaria, still assist in the fight against malaria by funding malaria control programs in other countries, either directly (for example, the US funds international health projects through the US Agency for International Development) or indirectly, through international organisations like the World Health Organisation and the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria. They also provide training in technical expertise to scientists, doctors and clinicians from malaria-endemic countries.

The governments of countries which have malaria are also deeply engaged in fighting the disease, mostly through their respective Ministries of Health, which often have specific malaria departments. In India, for example, malaria control is carried out by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), which is part of the Directorate General of Health Services. The NVBDCP carries out a multi-pronged strategy to combat malaria, including early case detection and treatment, vector control (with spraying, biological control and personal protection), community participation, etc. In Uganda, the Malaria Control Programme also carries out the above activities, and also provides intermittent preventative treatment against malaria for young children and pregnant women and has in the past engaged in large-scale distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated bednets. Both countries also explicitly include monitoring and evaluation as part of their control strategies, to make sure that any interventions or control efforts they make are having a positive impact on reducing malaria morbidity and mortality.

Malaria in Australia and Bali

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QUESTION

Is Australia, Bali or Tasmania in the malaria affected area?

ANSWER

While malaria used to be endemic in parts of Australia (not Tasmania—it is too cold), the country was declared to be free of malaria transmission in 1981. However, several hundred cases are reported in Australia every year, mainly brought back by travellers returning from other regions, such as south-east Asia and Africa.

The tropical northern region of Australia, i.e. Northern Queensland and particularly the Torres Strait area, is climatically very suitable for malaria transmission, and some local outbreaks may occur. Similarly, Bali is climatically very suitable for malaria, and some transmission does occur, though not high levels. For both Bali and northern Australia, it is not usually considered necessary to take anti-malarial medication while visiting the region, but precautions should be taken against getting mosquito bites, as this is how malaria is transmitted. Such precautions include sleeping under an insecticide-treated bednet, wearing long-sleeved clothing in the evenings and at night, and wearing insect repellent on exposed skin.

Malaria Outbreaks

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QUESTION

What is the largest outbreak in the world from malaria?

ANSWER

Most parts of the world don’t suffer from malaria “outbreaks” in the traditional sense of the world. Instead, malaria is “endemic,” which means that transmission is on-going all of the time. In some cases, transmission is seasonal, but each year’s level of disease incidence is similar to the next year’s. Having said this, despite no major and obvious “outbreaks” malaria has probably killed more people in history than any other disease.

Outbreaks of malaria do occur in places where malaria is not usually found, though these are usually small and isolated. For example, while Jamaica was previously malaria free, an outbreak in 2006/2007 resulted in 370 cases. By the end of 2007, it had been declared malaria-free once more, as transmission was interrupted. In 2002, a man with Plasmodium vivax caused an outbreak among 10 fellow campers at a camp site in Northern Queensland, Australia. In the US in 2008, almost a thousand cases of malaria were reported, though most of those were imported cases from travellers who had recently returned from malaria endemic areas, and therefore did not get infected within the US.