Read an article in the AP headlines online yesterday that upsets me. You can read the article here. What is upsetting me most is that the author is correctly drawing attention to the disease that causes a greater percentage of death, loss of economic gain, and is more directly afflicting children than any other disease in Africa, and yet receives so little attention. Yes, for those who have been in my lectures on poverty, disease, African development issues, you guessed it correctly, I am talking about Malaria.
Some noteworthy information pulled from the article:
--14000 Guinean children under age 5 died of malaria last year. 1600 people in Guinea have died from Ebola.
--Liberia, out of fears of Ebola cancelled the distribution of 2 million mosquito nets. (For the uninformed: Malaria is spread by mosquitoes).
--A Cuban doctor sent to Guinea to fight Ebola died of Malaria induced kidney failure. The one hospital in the country that could have provided dialysis was closed because of Ebola.
--Testing for Malaria requires bloodletting. Everyone is scared to do it because of Ebola.
For my two cents, Ebola is tragic and terrible, but can be effectively contained from spreading. Malaria spreads by mosquitoes we are unwilling to kill because the chemicals needed for the job are dangerous for flora and fauna. But, we rush research and treatment for Ebola, and are casual about treating Malaria. Some things, I simply do not understand.
Some noteworthy information pulled from the article:
--14000 Guinean children under age 5 died of malaria last year. 1600 people in Guinea have died from Ebola.
--Liberia, out of fears of Ebola cancelled the distribution of 2 million mosquito nets. (For the uninformed: Malaria is spread by mosquitoes).
--A Cuban doctor sent to Guinea to fight Ebola died of Malaria induced kidney failure. The one hospital in the country that could have provided dialysis was closed because of Ebola.
--Testing for Malaria requires bloodletting. Everyone is scared to do it because of Ebola.
For my two cents, Ebola is tragic and terrible, but can be effectively contained from spreading. Malaria spreads by mosquitoes we are unwilling to kill because the chemicals needed for the job are dangerous for flora and fauna. But, we rush research and treatment for Ebola, and are casual about treating Malaria. Some things, I simply do not understand.
When the Ebola outbreak first became prominent in the news, there were people worried about it spreading and becoming a threat here in the U. S. A. and other countries outside of Africa. How many of those people worry about Malaria becoming a problem over here? It seems to me, that for many people, if something doesn't appear to be a threat to them or their immediate circle of friends and family, they don't care about it.
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