Home  »  Malaria

Making Malaria History
"In malaria-prone regions, people look first to their churches, mosques or synagogues for help," said First Lady Laura Bush. Read about Islamic Relief's participation in the President's Malaria Initiative at the White House.

$10 can save a life
Malaria is a devastating epidemic, affecting mostly Sub-Saharan Africa. Sadly, the disease is preventable, and can be treated with minimal cost.

• Every 30 seconds, a child in Africa dies of malaria.
• $10 can save a life.

Malaria kills more than a million people per year; 90 percent of those who die are in Africa, and the victims are mostly children. Each year, malaria afflicts approximately a half-billion people.

Islamic Relief is working towards fighting this disease in an effort to reach one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

Islamic Relief operates the following projects to help fight the disease:

Sudan
• Radio campaign to provide educational information on how to protect against malaria.
• Provision of equipment and training to hospitals to help treat malaria patients.
• Awareness campaigns to educate students about malaria in south Sudan and Darfur.
• Distribution of bed nets with insecticide and provision of health awareness trainings in the Blue Nile State.
• Treatment of malaria patients at Islamic Relief's primary healthcare center.

Ethiopia
• Distribution of bed nets with insecticide to pregnant and lactating mothers.

As little as $10 can provide a bed net and malaria treatment for one individual in Africa. Please help save lives and donate today.

The Global Malaria Epidemic
(Source: The Global Fund)
Malaria, one of the world's most common and serious tropical diseases, is a protozoal infection transmitted to humans by mosquitoes.

Each year, malaria causes at least one million deaths and an additional 300 to 500 million clinical cases [illnesses], the majority of which occur in the world's poorest countries.

More than 41 percent of the world's population is at risk of acquiring malaria, and the proportion increases yearly due to deteriorating health systems, growing drug and insecticide resistance, climate change, and war.

High-risk groups include children, pregnant women, travelers, refugees, displaced persons, and laborers entering endemic areas.

Impact by Region
Malaria is prevalent in a total of 105 countries and territories: 45 countries in the World Health Organization's (WHO) African Region, 21 in WHO's Americas Region, 6 in WHO's European Region, 14 in WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region, 9 in WHO's South East Asia Region, and 10 in WHO's Western Pacific Region.

90% of malaria deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 3,000 people die from malaria each day in this region, most of them children.

Approximately six percent of malaria cases occur in Southern and Southeast Asia, Mexico, Brazil, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Central and South America, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.

Social, Economic, and Developmental Impact
Malaria increases poverty by significantly reducing productivity and social stability.

Rural and poor populations carry the overwhelming burden of malaria because access to effective treatment is extremely limited. In rural areas, the infection rates are highest during the rainy season - a time of intense agricultural activity. Research indicates that families affected by malaria clear 60 percent less crops than other families.

Malaria has been estimated to cost Africa more than $12 billion every year in lost GDP, even though it could be controlled for a fraction of that sum.

Prevention and Care
Prompt and effective treatment of malaria, which can reduce death rates by 59 percent, should be included in routine child and maternal health care.

Insecticide spraying, bed nets, and other cost-effective measures can help prevent malaria. Today only two percent of children in Africa sleep under a bed net treated with insecticide.

In some areas, malaria parasites have developed resistance to the cheapest and most common drugs used to treat the disease. However, resistance to treatment can be delayed by using therapies that combine different medications.