What is Malaria?

Malaria is a debilitating illness which can lead to chronic anemia, brain and

kidney damage and death, especially amongst children and pregnant women.

Malaria is naturally transmitted by the bite of a female

Anopheles

mosquito. When a mosquito bites an infected

person, a small amount of blood is taken, which contains

malaria parasites. These develop within the mosquito,

and about one week later, when the mosquito takes its

next blood meal, the parasites are injected with the

mosquito's saliva into the person being bitten. After a period of between two weeks

and several months (occasionally years) spent in the liver, the malaria parasites

start to multiply within red blood cells.

The parasites migrate to the liver, mature and enter the bloodstream, where they

rupture red blood cells.

An infected pregnant woman can transmit malaria to her unborn child.

Each year, more than 350

million cases of malaria occur in at least 109 countries.

An estimated 90 percent of deaths caused by the disease occur south of the Sahara.

It is estimated that about 3 million people die from malaria every year.

In Africa, a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds.

Malaria

What can we do about it?

The parasite is becoming resistant to the cheaper drugs.

Although many are under development, the challenge of producing a widely

available vaccine that provides a high level of protection for a sustained period is

still to be met.

Insecticide-treated mosquito nets are the principal way to protect children from

nocturnal

Anopheles mosquitoes that feed indoors. A recent

survey of 2,960 households in Kenya found that 92 percent of

children whose families had at least one net had slept under it

the night before the survey was conducted. The same study

showed that less than 60 percent of the families surveyed owned

a net, which cost less than US$ 10.

We can help by providing insecticide treated nets which protect people at night when

mosquitoes are most voracious. The project focus is

rural villages in Togo, a small country in West Africa.

Health expenditure is estimated at less than US$100

per capita . Infant mortality is about 78 per 1,000 live

births. There were 4 physicians per 100,000 people in

the early 2000s. Approximately one half of the

population lives below the international poverty line

of US$1.25 a day.

The mosquito nets will be distributed with support from

Rotarians in Lome,Togo.

Contact: Brigitte Pahwa,

BrigittePahwa@gmail.com, 512.458.8855