1,200 Kids Die From Malaria A Day. Low-Cost Preventative Treatments Could Change That

Every day, 1,200 children succumb to malaria, deaths that could easily be prevented with effective and low-cost interventions. Saturday marks World Malaria Day, and while advocates are celebrating some noteworthy gains, they’re also calling on the health community to ramp up its efforts to protect those who are most vulnerable to the disease with affordable measures. Through malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment, 4.3 million lives were saved between 2001 and 2013, according to UNICEF. Still, more than half a million people died from the disease in 2013, and the vast majority of the cases occurred in Africa. To bring the death figures down even further, and nearly eradicate the issue in the next 15 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now urging for a more aggressive approach to prevention and treatment. WHO now recommends diagnostic testing for all suspected malaria cases to make sure that malaria drugs are solely dispensed to patients who have contracted the disease. The group also recommends that the most susceptible groups, which includes pregnant women, children under 5 and infants, get preventative treatments. Strategies to protect pregnant women from malaria, for example, cost less 50 cents for the full course of four doses, according to UNICEF. Eliminating malaria could save economies $270 billion in sub-Saharan Africa alone. While the situation is grim in some areas, advocates say they feel bolstered by recent innovations. The world’s ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news