Information and stories about malaria.

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Malaria No More

malaria no more
Every 60 seconds, a child dies from a preventable and curable disease that claims the lives of 453,000 children per year—90 percent of those in Africa.

Malaria is considered one of the top three causes of death for children worldwide. But there’s one nonprofit that’s taking on the challenge to slow down the clock and lower its global threat to about half the world at risk. Malaria No More is dedicated to bringing an end to malaria deaths by engaging leaders, rallying the public and delivering lifesaving tools and education to families across Africa.

With the rate of 13,000 children losing their lives to a mosquito bite everyday, it is a critical time for this nonprofit to do its work efficiently and effectively. They do this through two sectors: lifesaving commodities and health education.

Malaria No More has covered over five million people with mosquito nets in at least 17 African countries, which to date is the surest way to prevent malaria. In Senegal, the organization conducted the first universal coverage of mosquito net distribution. In Cameroon, they inspired over 500,000 people to sleep under mosquito nets with their education campaign.

In the Fall of 2013, Malaria No More launched a campaign to deploy rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination treatments to reduce malaria deaths in children. Rapid-diagnostic tests help expand the world’s ability to confirm malaria cases in remote settings and ensure that people get the right treatment where they need it. Likewise, artemisinin-based combination therapies act as a powerful treatment for malaria with a full course costing just one dollar to buy and deliver, curing a child one to three days time.

In addition to these lifesaving commodities, Malaria No More offers health education, which plays a vital role to preventing, diagnosing and treating the disease. For example, their NightWatch initiative has reached at least 20 million Africans by engaging mobile platforms and African leaders, from international music icons to local sports heroes, to deliver lifesaving health education.

Malaria No More works on the ground to make sure that every family in Africa has timely access to the resources they need, whether it’s providing mosquito nets to sleep under at night or the one dollar full-course treatment.

Other solutions the nonprofit suggests include indoor residual spraying to help kill mosquitoes and reduce the rate of malaria transmission in addition to the development of more vaccines for malaria and support via government funding.

Though foreign aid represents less than one percent of the U.S. federal budget, all efforts make an impact on the ground. Bridging the current funding gap and helping countries deliver lifesaving resources will help bring down the rate of malaria deaths. Since 2000, malaria mortality rates have fallen about 60 percent among children under the age of five, but there’s still much more work to do.

Thanks to technology behemoth Google, Malaria No More is closer to reaching their goals. In December 2014, Google made a huge move toward fighting against malaria by announcing a $600,000 grant to help fund a mobile phone project to combat the disease.

So how does it work? Since many Africans communicate via mobile phones, there’s no better way to collect data and send them vital information that details preventative measures that can save those in targeted areas from one of the most deadly diseases. Malaria No More will partner with a Nigerian startup called Sproxil, which helps fight the counterfeit drug market by putting codes on authentic medicines. Anyone who purchases these can now text the codes to verify the drugs.

In addition, texting codes allows Malaria No More to receive data on what drugs people are taking in remote areas as well as track the spread and treatments for the disease.

– Chelsee Yee

Sources: Malaria No More, Geek Wire, Fighting Malaria
Photo: Malaria No More

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Malaria Vaccine Underway

On Thursday July 24, GlaxoSmithKline asked European Medicine’s Authority to approve RTS,S, its malaria resistant vaccine, for global use. According to scientists, it is the first vaccine to show promising signs of protecting children from malaria.

Malaria plagues 3.4 billion people – in other words – half of the world’s population. It is responsible for 800,000 deaths per year – the majority in children under 5 who live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Until now, no vaccine has been effective enough to quell the endemic. In past trials, the effects of the vaccine are ultimately weakened over time to the point where they are virtually futile. RTS,S, however, is showing promising longevity. It is the first malaria vaccine to reach the regulatory approval.

In the most advanced trial to date, 1,500 infants and children from several African countries were given the RTS,S vaccine. Eighteen months after the last injections, researchers re-examined the young vaccinated children. They found that the vaccine nearly halved the number of cases of malaria. For infants, the drug reduced incidences of malaria by a quarter.

In Kenya, for example, malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Out of a population of 34 million, 25 million are at risk for the disease. For every 1000 children who received the RTS,S clinical drug, 2000 clinical cases were prevented.

Researchers predict that the vaccine has the ability to provide up to 46 percent protection against malaria when given to children between 5-17 months old. The vaccine, coupled with other preventative measures, including insecticide-treated bed nets and anti-malarial drugs, could have a considerable impact on malaria-plagued populations.

GSK is now developing RTS,S in conjunction with the nonprofit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative with funding support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal of PATH MVI is to accelerate the development of malaria vaccines and catalyze timely access in afflicted countries.

Scientists and researchers are hopeful that the vaccine will be approved as early as 2015. Although the drug is still not 100-proof, a licensed malaria vaccine would have profound results. It could dramatically halt the prevalence of this persistent and stubborn disease. For years scientists have experienced a vicious cycle of trial and error when it comes to the malaria vaccine; time and time, they have been forced to come back to the drawing board. This time they are optimistic, and eager to see the billions of lives that will be saved.

– Samantha Scheetz

Sources: WHO, BBC, Gavi Alliance, Kemri.org
Photo: BBC

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Causes of Malaria

Malaria, a disease largely eliminated in the developed world, remains a health issue for developing nations. According to World Health Organization estimates, 207 million cases of the deadly disease emerged in 2012 alone, with about 80 percent coming from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

To help communities in these nations fight malaria, NGOs and foreign aid providers must not only provide malaria treatment methods but also find ways to address and protect people from its causes.

So, what are the causes of malaria?

The Mayo Clinic identifies the main path to infection as the transmission of parasites through mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can carry small parasites that cause malaria, and when they bite humans the parasites can enter the bloodstream. Once in the body, the malarial parasites travel to the liver, where they grow and develop. The maturation process lasts from a week to nearly a year, but once the parasites reach adulthood, they enter the bloodstream and infect red blood cells.

At this stage, the common symptoms of malaria, including fever, chills and sweating, develop. At the same time, mosquitoes that suck infected blood will get the malarial parasites, allowing them to spread through bites to other people.

Though malaria primarily spreads through mosquito bites, people can contract it from other sources. Malaria is a blood-borne disease, and receiving blood transfusions from infected individuals can lead to transmission. Sharing dirty hypodermic needles will also cause malaria to spread, and mothers can pass the disease on to their unborn children.

If left untreated within 24 hours of the first symptoms, malaria can cause brain damage, fluid buildup in the lungs and liver failure, all of which can be fatal. The World Health Organization believes that in 2012 malaria killed 627,000 people, the majority of whom were African children under five.

Fortunately, the mortality rates of malaria have fallen 42 percent globally since 2000. Still, the disease is lethal enough that a child in Africa dies every minute from malaria-related symptoms.

With no existing vaccine for the disease, programs to reduce deaths must focus on preventing malaria and safely treating existing cases.

Knowing that mosquitoes are the primary transmitters of malarial parasites, what do governments and other organizations do to prevent bites?

According to the World Health Organization, the two primary methods to keep mosquitoes away from people and their homes are to use insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying of insecticides.

Projects from NGOs and foreign aid agencies to provide these services to communities free of charge will help prevent mosquitoes from spreading malaria.

While using either insecticide-treated nets or indoor residual spraying to stop mosquito bites is effective, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that, in areas of medium transmission, using both methods reduced the risk of infection an extra 36 percent compared to one method alone.

Public education programs to teach people and doctors not to reuse medical equipment, not to give transfusions of infected blood and how to recognize symptoms quickly can also supplement insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying to stop malaria at its source.

Malaria is a dangerous disease that takes the lives of many young children daily, but since people know what causes malaria, it can be prevented. Thanks to technology to kill parasite-carrying mosquitoes, deaths from malaria are dropping and the world is becoming a safer place to live.

– Ted Rappleye

Sources: The Mayo Clinic, World Health Organization, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
Photo: TreeHugger

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Controlling Malaria Outbreaks

Combating poverty drives innovation. In order to reduce the suffering from poverty, countries investigate cost effective methods of preventing poverty and reducing the negative effects of poverty, such as disease or malnutrition. Confronting public health concerns, like malaria, in developing countries inspires scientific innovations to end the problem in an efficient yet inexpensive way. In this way, controlling malaria outbreaks improves health care worldwide.

Malaria is preventable and treatable, yet the disease killed over 600,000 people in 2012. The Center for Disease Control reported that malaria outbreaks are the leading cause of death in many developing countries and disproportionately affects young children, pregnant women and travelers.

Malaria is both a symptom and cause of poverty. Impoverished people struggle to take preventative measures against malaria, and if individuals contract malaria, the cost of treatment and the inability to work burden them. Furthermore, countries must create and manage health facilities and treatments. The Center for Disease Control estimated the direct cost at $12 billion per year. This creates a cycle of poverty in which both people and nations are unable to escape.

Some of the solutions, though, destroy too many mosquitoes, which affects the environment. Many predators depend on mosquitoes as their primary food source, so the ecological effect of eliminating all mosquitoes would be significant.

Because of this, researchers are investigating effective preventive measures to target a specific type of mosquito. The Economist reports that Dr. Nikolai Windbichler and Dr. Andrea Crisanti found a method of killing only the mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus, or the ones that carry malaria. By ensuring that the mosquitoes no longer produce female mosquitoes, Dr. Windbichler and Dr. Crisanti ensure that the mosquitoes cannot reproduce or draw blood and spread the malaria parasite.

The researchers designed a protein called endonuclease, which erodes the X chromosome of the mosquitoes. Producing female offspring requires two X chromosomes, and the egg only holds X chromosomes. As a result, if the protein limits the production of X chromosomes in male mosquitoes, it will limit the amount of female mosquitoes produced. A male dominated species of mosquitoes would lower the population as a whole and limit the transmission of malaria.

However, the Economist notes that natural selection will eventually allow the mosquitoes to evolve past the protein, so this solution depends on the elimination of the parasite within the species.

Ecologist Phil Lounibos expresses some skepticism of this type of solution. He believes that eliminating or decreasing the population of one species will not affect the spread of the disease. In a study he led, multiple genus of mosquitoes would cross inseminate and spread the parasite to other types of mosquitoes.

Stalling the disease, though, could allow countries to divert funds from malaria treatment to increasing economic productivity and improving the lives of the country’s impoverished. Developing new methods of malaria control presents exciting possibilities for controlling and combating malaria.

Between 2000 and 2012, malaria interventions saved over 3 million lives, and scientific innovation could drastically increase this number.

– Tara Wilson

Sources: The Economist, Center for Disease Control, WHO, Nature
Photo: The Health Site

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How to Stop Malaria

Malaria seems to be a disease out of sight for most of us, affecting far away people. Malaria used to be present in the United States, but it was wiped out in the 1950s. The mosquitoes, carrying the malaria parasite, are making people very sick and taking lives in the countries where this dangerous disease still exists, but in order to stop malaria, certain precautions and steps must be taken.

What is the current situation?

In 2012, there were about 207 million people diagnosed with malaria, and an estimated 627,000 malaria deaths. About 3.4 billion people — half of the world’s population — are at risk of contracting malaria. Most cases incur in Sub-Saharan Africa, greatly affecting children under age five.

How to prevent and stop malaria

Prevention of malaria includes preventing people from acquiring mosquito bites and giving people the appropriate medicine. Wearing protective clothing, staying inside when it is dark outside, using mosquito spray indoors if possible and avoiding going to region with a high number of cases of malaria if vulnerable (pregnant, under age five, etc…) are also effective in malaria prevention. Using long-lasting mosquito nets is one of the most effective methods to prevent mosquito bites. If traveling to regions where malaria is present, taking preventative medicine is strongly recommend. Most people who are infected do not take the proper medicine or follow the right schedule.

What we need to do

We have already achieved huge success. Fewer people are getting sick, thanks to the effects of the U.N., local government and nonprofit organizations. We need to keep up the fight against malaria. Most cases occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, where people lack certain preventive materials such as bed nets and insect spray. We need to make sure people sleep under bed nets and have access to basic malaria diagnosis and treatment.

There are no certain vaccines that can prevent people from getting malaria. Scientists still continue with their research to develop effective vaccines. We also need to find innovative ways and methods to stop malaria.

– Jing Xu

Sources: ImpatientOptimists, WHO, WebMD
Photo: AAAAI

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3 Organizations Eradicating Malaria

Because of the prevalence of malaria as one of the greatest health crises, many governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been taking action to combat the disease. Below are just three organizations that have been instrumental in fighting the disease and how they have impacted the larger global fight in eradicating malaria.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has become recognized as one of the leading global health nonprofit organizations. In 2013, it launched the Accelerate Zero campaign to completely eradicate malaria. The campaign has three primary functions. Firstly, improvement of treatment, specifically to the most afflicted areas and at-risk demographics (pregnant women and young children,) will help maximize the effectiveness of current resources. Secondly, investing in new research in vaccines and treatment plans can help expand the potential for medicinal treatment. Finally, the foundation hopes to garner attention and support in eradicating the treatable disease and create a multinational unified front against the disease.

Malaria Eradication Project (MEP)

Though MEP only works in Uganda, there are similar organizations in India and Peru. Founded in 2011, MEP is a research-based organization that is seeking the cheapest treatment plan that can help the most people. Using research methods to target the most afflicted, the goal is to tailor treatment plans based on geographic locations. The model of Uganda can be transported around the globe for targeted specific treatments since a variety of factors affect the epidemiology of the disease.

President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)

Conceived in 2005, PMI is a program designed to reduce malaria by 50 percent in Africa by expanding health care coverage and making treatments more affordable. The program expanded in 2008 and rose to importance as part of the Global Health Initiative. Along with taking preventative measures like spraying millions of houses and expanding treatment, the initiative has also supplied training to over 16,000 staff.

Though each of these programs are in different stages of development, they demonstrate the multifaceted combat against malaria. These are just three of the many organizations dedicated to assisting malaria-afflicted areas and eradicating the disease once and for all.

— Kristin Ronzi

Sources: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Malaria Eradication Project, President’s Malaria Initiative
Photo: The Guardian

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Lifespans Increasing In Poorest Countries

Life expectancy has risen in the past two decades by over nine years. Both wealthy and impoverished nations have managed to raise their citizens’ lifespans. In the wealthier countries, less people are dying from heart diseases by the age of 60. According to the U.N.’s World Health Organization annual statistics, six countries’ babies are healthier, with less dying before the age of 5, explained Margaret Chan, World Health Organization chief, in a statement.

The six poorest countries managed to raise life expectancy by over 10 years between 1990 and 2012. Liberia’s lifespans increased the most by 20 years (42 to 62).

The next few countries that were able to significantly raise their lifespans are Ethiopia (from 45 to 64 years), Maldives (58 to 77), Cambodia (54 to 72), East Timor (50 to 66) and Rwanda (48 to 65).

According to the WHO, a girl who was born in 2012 will most likely live to be approximately 73-years old and a boy up to 68-years old.

More people are starting to live longer because of an increase in food supplies, better nutrition, improvements in medical supplies and technology (immunizations and antibiotics), improved sanitation and hygiene and safer water supplies.

Although the life spans in Africa are the lowest, they have still made a significant increase by about 10 percent . Malaria deaths have decreased by 30 percent and HIV infections have also decreased by 74 percent.

A great contribution to the increasing lifespans is the larger income Africans are making, which has increased by 30 percent.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Mozambique, has made huge improvement due to the discoveries of coal and gas.

Today, this is proof that people are able to make a change in others’ lives — the ones who need it the most. Although the poorest countries still have the shortest lifespans, they have definitely increased. Over the next few decades, one could expect even more growth.

 —  Priscilla Rodarte

Sources: ENCA, SF Gate, Geography, The Independent

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Global Health Investment is a Win-Win Situation

Economists, public officials and humanitarian leaders across the globe are all echoing a new stance on foreign aid: treat it like an investment.

Sure, many areas of the world still require immediate relief in the form of solid goods, but what these communities absolutely require is the stability and means to sustain themselves long-term. In order to break the cycle of poverty, impoverished people need a new cycle altogether characterized by improved economic infrastructure and stability.

The best aspect of the investment approach is that it promises profit. Business executives are now realizing the untapped workforce potential of the world’s destitute. By developing interest in these areas from an economic standpoint, companies are not only opening up access to the world market, but they are seeing positive returns as well.

Companies like Samasource, a Silicon Valley-based startup, have illustrated success in the private sector. Samasource’s model involves big data projects that they break down into manageable tasks for their overseas workers. American tech giants such as Google and LinkedIn benefit from the work and finance of the paychecks of their outsourced employees. As a result, Samasource is profitable and growing while people in rural areas have new access to the technological world market.

Now, imagine taking the approach a step further and funding industries that directly address the critical issues impoverished people face, such as global health investments. Could financing ventures that treat HIV, malaria and infant mortality help those in need and actually boost the economy? More and more people are answering this question with a solid “yes.”

The solution won’t be so simple, however. Devex editor Rolf Rozenkranz recently sat down with Annie Baston who is the chief strategy officer at PATH, an international nonprofit that specializes in long-term solutions to break cycles of poverty. Baston explained the common challenges faced when determining a “best buy” for global health investment. Multiple factors come into play involving technological solutions and systemic reform. These elements need to be carefully orchestrated and illustrated to investors to generate interest and maintain longevity.

In fact, organizations such as The Lancet and their team of researchers have laid out a complex global health investment plan, titled “Global Investment Framework for Women and Children’s Health,” that will secure high health, social and economic returns. Through simulation modeling, The Lancet has found that “increasing health expenditure by just $5 per person per year up to 2035 in 74 high-burden countries could yield up to nine times that value in economic and social benefits.” Their models, published late last year, approach maternal and newborn health, children’s health, malaria, HIV/AIDS, family planning and immunization.

– Edward Heinrich

Sources: DEVEX(1), DEVEX(2), The Lancet, Samasource
Photo: University of Delaware

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Malaria Eradication: A Work in Progress

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World Malaria Day acted as an opportunity to reflect on the history of the disease as well as look to the present success of its ongoing eradication. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), global efforts toward malaria eradication have resulted in an estimated 3.3 million lives saved since 2000 and mortality rates for children in Africa have dropped by around 54 percent.

Despite these improvements, a child is still killed by malaria every 60 seconds. 3.3 billion people, half the world’s population, are affected by the disease—specifically children, for which 90 percent of all malaria-related deaths occur. The disease, which causes fevers, chills, headaches, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, can result in kidney failure, seizures or death if left untreated.

Most malaria cases are reported in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is most prominent. Relatively simple prevention methods, such as bed nets, have helped limit the spread of the disease. Yet despite its decline, public officials claim that less-than-adequate funding is preventing quicker malaria eradication.

“Absolute numbers of malaria cases and deaths are not going down as fast as they could,” says WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. The effect of malaria does not just harm those in Africa, it negatively affects the Western world as well. Malaria reportedly slows economic growth by 1 percent each year — and the effects of the disease are estimated to cost Africa’s GDP more than 12 billion USD per year — even if it would cost significantly less money to control and prevent the outbreak.

Despite its decline, malaria is still all too prevalent. Only around 70 million nets were delivered to highly-affected nations in 2012; in order to significantly minimize infection, this number would have to be at around 150 million. While still desperate for new tools, their current ones are paying off to an adequate extent. Since just 2000, the global incidence rate fell by 29 percent, and 31 percent in Africa alone, where most cases occur. Declared by USAID as the “greatest success story in global health,” malaria, while still needing room for significant work, may just be said “success story” in the making.

– Nick Magnanti

Sources: Huffington Post, TIME, Mashable
Photo: Flickr

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Katharine McPhee Fights Malaria with Power of One

In the early 50’s, Malaria was eliminated from the United States. The mosquito-borne disease, which can have fatal outcomes, is still a problem in other parts of the world, however. April 25 is World Malaria Day, which highlights the continued need for support for malaria prevention and treatment, and this year Katharine McPhee is stepping up to help out the cause.

“Every minute, a child dies from malaria. Every minute. That is pretty stunning. If that was happening in the States, there would be action right away. It would be an epidemic,” McPhee said.

Working with Malaria No More’s campaign, Power of One, McPhee is hoping to help prevent the deadly disease in Africa. Malaria No More aims to provide every African family access to the tools needed to prevent and treat malaria in their communities. The organization has provided mosquito nets to 17 African countries, and the Power of One campaign, launched in the fall of 2013, deploys tests and treatments to the area, to reduce deaths of children caused by malaria.

The organization is donation based, and every dollar donated funds a test and treatment for a child with malaria.

“One dollar, one life, it’s so simple,” says the singer-actress. “We’re hoping we can create a malaria-free zone.”

Originally, McPhee learned about the issue of malaria while funding a preschool in Africa. A family friend told her of the need for the school in the Nioko District of Burkina Faso’s capitol, Ouagadougou; through their funding, it was opened in 2009. Through emails with the school’s headmaster she learned of the recurring cases of malaria affecting the staff and students. She decided then to “continue to help” with Malaria No More.

McPhee has travelled to Africa with Malaria No More in 2012, visiting the school she helped build, and distributing mosquito nets to the region.

She also promotes the cause back home, speaking to college students this year about Malaria No More’s cause and how they can help.

“The message is that this is a disease that nobody should be living with, and if they do get infected, it’s curable. They just need the right resources,” McPhee said.

Malaria, when left untreated, is a serious disease that can prove fatal, especially in young children. The World Health Organization estimated that, in 2012, over 200 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide; the cases resulted in 627,000 deaths, almost 90 percent of which occurred in Africa. According to the CDC, however, most malaria deaths can be prevented.

This is why Malaria No More and organizations like it are so important. With World Malaria Day this week, helping to treat the disease and prevent malaria-related deaths is as important as ever, with many opportunities for new donors and volunteers to help out the cause.

To help out, go to www.Po1.org to donate a dollar and fund a test and treatment for a child with malaria.

— Matthew Erickson

Sources: USA Today, Malaria No More, CNN, CDC