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Pageant News 16 December 2010
An article in the Guardian newspaper (UK), on
15 December 2010, states that the opportunity to end all deaths from
malaria by 2015 is within our reach (see
the online article). The recently
published World Health Organisation's World Malaria Report for 2010
states that global malaria-related deaths have fallen from 985,000
in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009. (download
the report) In 11 African
countries, the malaria burden has dropped by more than 50% over the
same time period. The article warns that these gains are fragile,
and while we have a real opportunity to end malaria deaths in Africa
by 2015, it could still slip through our fingers. An article in the
Daily Observer (Gambia), in September, reports on the massive
progress made in The Gambia by the National Malaria Control
Programme, with deaths down by 90% and a 74% reduction in
admissions. (see
the online article)
There are many weapons in the fight against
malaria. Some focus on the mosquitoes which spread the malarial
parasite, some preventing mosquitoes getting at people and some on
fighting the disease once someone has contracted malaria.
Eliminating or just reducing numbers of
mosquitoes presents some difficult challenges, and can have
unintended environmental side effects as when DDT was used
indiscriminately some 50 years ago. The Gambian programme has made
great use of 'Indoor Residual Spraying' where the interiors of
dwellings are treated with insecticide, keeping them mosquito free
for up to six months. DDT can be used for this, as only small
amounts get into the general environment. However, the possible
adverse human health and environmental effects of exposure must be
carefully weighed against the benefits.
A recent development is the breeding of
sterile male mosquitoes. When these are released in large numbers,
they mate with females, but produce no offspring, and the mosquito
population can be severely reduced or even eliminated in a matter of
weeks. Males do not bite, and can't pass on malaria, so releasing
large numbers of sterile males cannot make things worse. Full scale
trials are in progress. Recently this technique was used in the
Cayman Islands to try to wipe out mosquitoes which carry dengue
fever, and it achieved an 80% reduction in mosquito numbers. (further
details)
The most cost effective way of stopping
mosquitoes getting at their human victims is by using mosquito nets.
These are very effective in protecting young children, who are the
most vulnerable. Pageant has been supplying poor families with these
nets for many years. Nets have a limited life and need to be
replaced after three years to maintain their effectiveness, so there
are always families in urgent need of nets. You can help by
purchasing mosquito nets as an ethical gift. (See
our list of ethical gifts for details)
However, people can't be protected by nets
all the time, and as long as mosquitoes carry the disease, many
people will continue to get infected. Traditional anti-malaria drugs
are too expensive for widespread and continued use in poor
countries. A low cost but effective treatment is the use of a tea
made from the leaves of Artemisia annua. Pageant is involved in a
programme to help village communities grow this herb, so they have
an effective remedy to hand at all times. (read
more about the Artemisia Project)
You can help us with this project by clicking the 'donate' button
near the bottom of that page.
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