Every year on 25th April, World Malaria Day is celebrated across the globe to educate people about the disease, its symptoms and ways to effectively tackle it. It gives a boost to the international and domestic efforts made to completely eliminate this fatal disease. On this day, frontline workers including healthcare professionals, domestic governments, international organizations organize awareness programmes, debunk myths around this disease and rekindles the confidence to win the fight against this disease.
This year’s theme is “Malaria Ends With Us : Reinvest, Reimagine , Reignite” calling upon world leaders, organizations to amplify their political and financial support to the cause of its elimination, running the risk of undoing the gains made so far.
Reinvest : The WHO urges domestic governments to boost their healthcare spending, making it accessible for at-risk population belonging to varied economic backgrounds. With this people suffering from malaria or at the brink of having it, can seek medical help before it turns fatal. Reinvestment also refers to greater spending on innovation of new drugs, nets like ITNs, insecticides etc.
Reimagine : The WHO calls for bringing innovative and unique strategies but also reimagining creation of advanced vaccines, insecticides , vector control methods etc.
Reignite : The WHO mobilizes support both in spirits and substance from all sections of the society. It calls upon everyone from world leaders to common civilians to join hands against malaria, reinforcing the idea that even the smallest efforts matter.
Basic Facts about Malaria
(1)Malaria is a communicable disease i.e. it spreads from one affected to the other and is common to tropical regions.
(2) Malaria is a vector-borne disease i.e. the disease transmits though vector or parasite female Anopheles mosquito.
(3) Despite being a life-threatening disease, it is preventable and curable.
(4)Symptoms: Fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting ,diarrhea , abdominal pain, muscle pain , fatigue, rapid breathing.
(5)The three most commonly prescribed medications for chemoprophylaxis are Atovaquone-Proguanil, Doxycycline, and Mefloquine.
Let’s see what the WHO has to say on this –
The WHO website’s underlines the fact that majority of malaria cases and deaths are registered in the African region accounting for 94% and 95% respectively as of 2023.
If an adult with low-immunity is bitten by an infected parasite, he/ she shows symptoms after 10-15 days. Initially the symptoms like fever , chill are mild , however if not treated for 24 hrs , it can be cause death. However , in case of children, the symptoms are widely different – anaemia, breathing difficulty or cerebral malaria.
WHO identifies the vulnerable group to catch malaria early – children, infants , pregnant women, patients with HIV and AIDS and non-immune migrants.
There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax – pose the greatest threat.
Invention of a miracle!
Through intensive research along with partnerships with nations , research bodies around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has made greater strides in its prevention efforts since early 2000 with INSECTICIDE TREATED NETS(ITNs) made of pytheorid. This innovation has indeed been breakthrough as it helped prevent more than 2 billion cases and nearly 13 million deaths.
The nets were first introduced in 2019 in Burkina Faso, and then extended to Benin, Mozambique, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
However this one-of-a-kind invention soon hit a roadblock as the parasites evolved making itself immuned against pytheroids. In 2017, a new and improved innovation , dual insecticide INTs surely seemed to clear the path. Reports suggest that this version of ITN was 20-50% more effective than the first ITN. The Director of the WHO Global Malaria Program , Dr. Daniel Ngamije said that “Dual-insecticide nets represent a breakthrough in malaria prevention.”
The New Nets Project introduced in the year 2018, along with the Global Fund and U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative deployed more than 56 million mosquito nets in 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa where insecticide resistance had been reported.
Five mindboggling facts to know this World Malaria Day
(1) Mosquito kills more humans than any other creature on Earth.
(2) Only 45 countries and 1 territory has been declared Malaria-free so far.
(3) Today Mali is going to join 19 African countries to introduce malaria vaccines.
(4) Every minute a child under 5 dies of malaria.
(5) Two countries Cabo Verde and Egypt have been declared malaria-free as of April 2025.
