Malaria the Killer

Joanna Kwiatkowski
Dr. Leah C. Neubauer
May 8, 2015
Malaria: The Killer of African Countries
Introduction:
A child dies every minute from Malaria. Malaria claims the lives of 453,000 children per
year-90% of those in Africa. Thats 1,300 kids who lose their lives to a mosquito bite every day
(Malaria No More, 2015). Malaria, according to the CDC (2015, is a fatal disease that is caused
by a parasite that infects certain mosquitos which feeds on humans and gives them the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that, Malaria is caused by blood parasites
transmitted from person to person through the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the absence of
prompt and effective treatment, malaria often causes death (WHO, 2015, n.p.). Unfortunately,
Malaria is extremely prevalent in the continent Africa and especially in the country Ghana.
Ghana is located in the sub region of West Africa next to Togo, Cte dIvoire, and on the Golf of
Guinea. According to The World Factbook, Ghana is a lower middle income country with a GDP
per capita of $4,200 USD. A population of 25,758,108 and a life expectancy of 65.75 years and
an infant mortality rate of 38.52 per 1,000. Ghana is rich in natural resources, including gold,
diamonds, manganese ore, and bauxite, as well as oil. It is Africas second-biggest gold producer
after South Africa (2015 Index of Economic Freedom, 2015, n.p.). Being a large resource of
gold, diamonds, and oil can make the GDP increase as well as life expectancy because of rich
people moving in. However, people cannot forget about others living in Ghana without access to

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money and proper care. Fortunately, comparing Ghana to its two surrounding Countries, it
exceeds, in life expectancies and has a lower rate of mortality.
Descriptive Epidemiology:
As of now there is a lot we do know about Malaria as well as a lot we still need to learn.
Unfortunately, Malaria remains the No. 1 killer in several countries, and a vaccine that reliably
and permanently prevents the disease may be more than a decade away from the market
(Maxmen, 2014, n.p.). With a lack of vaccine as well as worries of making the medicine
(antibiotic) for malaria resistant it is hard to completely eradicate this fatal disease. However,
some countries still lack the resources to start the program, and others only have enough money
to reach a subset of the children who live in regions where chemoprevention works (Maxmen,
2014, n.p.). Nonetheless, this does not mean that people should not try to help get rid of Malaria.
Access seems to be the largest problem of preventing malaria, Access to services and prevention
and treatment interventions, procurement and supply of quality medicines and commodities,
diagnostic capacity; routine surveillance, monitoring and evaluation concur to systems
strengthening and progress towards national and international targets (WHO, 2015, n.p.).
However, Ghana is known to have a heavy burden of Malaria on its people. Malaria contributes
heavily to the burden of disease in Ghana, with 3.1 to 3.5 million cases reported annually among
a national population of 24.2 million (Monroe, et al., 2015, p.2). It has also been said that,
Despite efforts to date, malaria is still the biggest cause of mortality and morbidity in Ghana,
especially among children under five years, pregnant women and the poor (Malaria Situation
and Response, n.d., n.p.). Malaria is a very large and preventable problem that kills too many

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people every year. This disease can be cured with a pill, yet it claims about 1,700 lives each day
mainly children in sub-Saharan Africa who dont take this medicine within a week of falling
sick(Maxmen, 2014, n.p.). In Ghana, malaria has been, and remains the first cause of loss of
days of healthy life as it accounts for at least 20% of child deaths, 40% of child hospital
admissions and more than 50% of out-patient attendances(Owusu-Agyei, et al., 2009, p. 200).
The epidemiologic transition does not help explain this epidemic of malaria in African
countries. The epidemiologic transition tells us that leading causes of death have shifted from
contagious diseases to chronic and noncontagious diseases. However, malaria is a contagious
disease and kills millions of people across the continent of Africa. I believe that this is due to
lack of resources as well as the types of populations in African countries.
Social Divisions:
To understand the inequalities of malaria it is important to understand how it can be
contracted as well as when it is most prevalent. Malaria is, A threat year-round, malaria
transmission is more pronounced during the rainy season, typically from May to October in the
northern part of the country (Monroe, et al., 2015, p. 2). It is also been said that Malaria is more
likely to be contracted at different times of the day but it was most likely to be contracted in the
early mornings. Unfortunately, many people from Ghana worked outdoors all day and were
always exposed to the outdoor environment. Women and older girls were fetching water,
gathering firewood, preparing the evening meal, and brewing pito, a local alcoholic beverage.
Sweeping the compound and doing laundry were also common. Men and older boys were
driving animals into the compound and feeding them (Monroe, et al., 2015, p. 5). The people of

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Ghana that were experiencing these conditions were not among the wealthy as well as had a lack
of access to many resources that could help them with the prevention of malaria. For example the
study done by Monroe et al., had also found that. The second was a variety of outdoor nighttime activities, including outdoor sleeping for part or all of the night, that take place in a setting
where anophelines exhibit at least some exophagic and exophilic behavior the researchers
believed that this was one of the reasons as to why people in Ghana are having such a large
problem with malaria.
Nevertheless, there is another study that shows the disparity when it comes to treatments
of malaria. Many times when children are infected with malaria the mother stays with them in
hospitals. A study done by Tolhurst and Nyonator (2006) mentions that men are supposed to pay
for their childs medical expenses but many times they do not which in turn leaves the women in
a situation where she can not afford the proper care that the child needs.
The study findings indicate the importance of approaching malaria management
from a gender perspective, which includes looking within the household at
how

the social and economic power of women and men at different levels of

seniority
(Tolhurst & Nyonator,

can influence decisions about how to respond to ill health

2006, p. 325).

Whether it be the conditions of the Ghanian people or their source of income it has an impact on
their health.
Actions/Key Actors:
As of now there are plenty of organizations as well as governmental programs to help
with the fight against malaria. Nets for Life is an organization that helps provide nets to African

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countries to help prevent the transmission of malaria. There are also organizations such as, the
National Malaria Control Programme and Promotion Malaria Prevention and Treatment.
UNICEF and the CDC have also been mentioned in many articles as being of help to Ghana in
their fight against malaria.
So far there have been some mentions of new intervention in African countries against
malaria. For example, Next year the intervention, called seasonal malaria chemoprevention, is
slated to reach more than eight million kids with additional funds from other international
organizations (Maxmen, 2014, n.p.). However, there are some debates as to if this should be
happening, some say that there might be an increase of drug resistance to malaria. But Maxmen
(2014) says that, Resistance to any given antibiotic or malaria medicine develops rapidly when
the drug is misused. With the proper usage and distribution of the drug hopefully malaria rates
can start to decline.
Conclusion:
After reading about the chemoprevention I believe that it would be very beneficial to
start. Despite its flaws, chemoprevention could prevent 8.8 million cases of malaria and 80,000
deaths annually but right now, it lacks the political support to fund and carry it out to the full
extent (Maxmen, 2014, n.p.). Since there is such a lack of funding I believe it would be
important for people to try and raise more awareness as well as get governments on board. In
addition to the chemoprevention I believe that the preventions that are taking place now in
Ghana should still continue. These preventions are, The main malaria prevention plans
operationalized on the ground in Ghana include insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs/LLINs),
indoor residual spraying (IRS), intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp),

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diagnosis with rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and treatment with artemisinin-based combination
therapy (Malaria Situation and Response, n.d., n.p.). With so many people dying yearly I
believe it to be important for countries to try and take control and help the people in need.
Malaria is very preventable but requires people to help each other in any way that they can.

References:
2015 Index of Economic Freedom. (2015). Ghana. Retrieved From: http://www.heritage.org/
index/country/ghana
Central Intelligence Agency. (2015). The World Factbook. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/
library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html
Maxmen, Amy. (2014, June 30). Malaria Prevention, with Both Risk and Reward. Retrieved
from: http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/africa-mali-reward-risk-malariaprevention-child
Monroe, A., Asamoah, O., Lam, Y., Koenker, H., Psychas, P., Lynch, M., & ... Harvey, S. A.
(2015). Outdoor-sleeping and other night-time activities in northern Ghana:
implications
for residual transmission and malaria prevention. Malaria Journal, 14(1),
1-11. doi:
10.1186/s12936-015-0543-4
N.A. (2015). Malaria No More. Retrieved from: malarianomore.org
Owusu-Agyei, S., Asanta, P. K., Agjui, M., Adjei, G., Awini, E., & Chandramohan, D.
(2009). Epidemiology of malaria in the forest-savanna transitional zone of Ghana.
Malaria Journal, 8(220), 1-10. doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-8-22.
Tolhurst, R., & Nyonator, F. K.. (2006). Looking within the household: gender roles and
responses to malaria in Ghana. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical
Medicine
and Hygiene, 100, 321-326. doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2005.05.004.

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World Health Organization. (2015). 10 Fact on Malaria in Africa. [Regional Office for Africa].
Retrieved from: http://www.afro.who.int/en/clusters-aprogrammes/dpc/malaria/features/
2287-10-facts-on-malaria-in-africa.html