malaria - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

African scientists on the rise

SETH ONYANGO AFRICAN scientists are staking a claim at the world’s scientific high table, generating cutting-edge breakthroughs in the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS, maternal health and TB and boosting agricultural productivity. Despite little global spotlight − at home where it matters, as well as overseas – African scientists are creating home-grown solutions to some of the world’s biggest maladies. The World Bank has released a report indicating that despite an increase, Africa’s contributions to the world’s research remains at a measly 1.1 per cent. But there are caveats. One is that the research that IS created is extremely wide-reaching, showing…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

How COVID-19 measures have affected food safety in East Africa

HEALTH

FOODBORNE diseases are thought to impose a health burden on society comparable to the “big three”: malaria, HIV/AIDs and tuberculosis. FLORENCE MUTUA, Scientist, International Livestock Research Institute DELIA GRACE, Professor Food Safety Systems at the Natural Resources Institute (UK) and contributing scientist ILRI, International Livestock Research Institute ERASTUS KANG'ETHE, Professor, University of Nairobi Common foodborne diseases affect tens of millions of people every year. They include salmonellosis, which causes stomach upsets, norovirus, which can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea, and listeriosis, which can cause severe infections of the bloodstream and brain. Children and people with weak immune systems are affected…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

We’re a step closer to figuring out why mosquitoes bite some people and not others

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

MOSQUITOES contribute to the transmission of life-threatening diseases that include Zika, dengue, chikungunya, Rift Valley fever and malaria. Of these, malaria carries the most risk accounting for 229 million cases and more than 400,000 deaths in 2019. Africa accounted for 67% (274 000) of all malaria deaths worldwide. MADELIEN WOODING, Chromatographic Officer and Researcher, University of Pretoria YVETTE NAUDÉ, Manager: Chromatography Mass Spectrometry, University of Pretoria Malaria is caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Vector control strategies such as indoor residual spraying and long-lasting insecticidal net programmes have played a…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

New malaria vaccine proves highly effective – and COVID shows how quickly it could be deployed

HEALTH

CORONAVIRUS vaccines have been developed and deployed in record time, but as global rollout has progressed, too few doses have been made available in low-income countries. It’s a stark reminder that when it comes to infectious diseases, the world’s poorest often get left behind. ADRIAN HILL, Director of the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford This is a problem that extends far beyond COVID-19. In Africa, for example, malaria has probably caused four times as many deaths as COVID-19 over the past year. Thankfully, our new research shows that an effective vaccine against malaria could now be closer than ever before.…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

What Nigeria must do to eliminate malaria: three researchers offer insights

HEALTH

Nigeria accounts for nearly a quarter of deaths from malaria in the world – in 2018 the numbers stood at 95,000. Three of the country’s top malaria researchers reflect on why the numbers remain so high. WALE FATADE, Commissioning Editor: Nigeria, The Conversation What does Nigeria need to do to eliminate malaria? Olukemi K. Amodu: research and innovate Malaria remains an important public health hazard globally. It is responsible for high disease and death rates especially among children under five and pregnant women. The malaria burden in Nigeria is high – 25% of cases globally. The causes include the climate,…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Yemi Alade, Siya Kolisi join stars against Malaria

NEWS

GRAMMY Award-winning Nigerian Afropop singer, songwriter, actress and activist, Yemi Alade, has joined African superstars supporting the Draw The Line Against Malaria campaign to inspire and empower young people from across the African continent and the globe to call on their leaders at zeromalaria.org and push for political action to end malaria within a generation. The ground-breaking campaign, first launched across Africa in February 2021, is a unifying global platform designed to capture youth, community and public imagination, and will be rolled out globally on World Malaria Day. The campaign aims to generate mass awareness and high visibility for the…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Malaria death toll to exceed COVID-19’s in sub-Saharan Africa -WHO

HEALTH

KATE KELLAND DEATHS from malaria due to disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic to services designed to tackle the mosquito-borne disease will far exceed those killed by COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Health Organization has warned. More than 409,000 people globally - most of them babies in the poorest parts of Africa - were killed by malaria last year, the WHO said in its latest global malaria report, and COVID-19 will almost certainly make that toll higher in 2020. "Our estimates are that depending on the level of service disruption (due to COVID-19) ... there could be an excess of…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

As the malaria season begins in southern Africa, COVID-19 complicates the picture

HEALTH

TWO of the nine global public health awareness days are associated with malaria: World Malaria Day, observed on 25 April, and World Mosquito Day, which commemorates the discovery by Sir Ronald Ross on 20 August 1897 that Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria parasites to humans. JAISHREE RAMAN, Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases SHÜNÉ OLIVER, medical scientist , National Institute for Communicable Diseases Both World Malaria Day and World Mosquito Day are particularly relevant to Africa. The continent shoulders the greatest burden of malaria globally. Ninety-three percent of the 228 million malaria cases…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Invasive mosquito species could bring more malaria to Africa’s urban areas

HEALTH

JEREMY HERREN, Scientist, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology CLIFFORD MUTERO, Consultant Scientist, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology A species of mosquito that can carry malaria – known as Anopheles stephensi – has invaded eastern Africa and is quickly moving across the region. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Jeremy Herren and Clifford Mutero to provide insights into why this invasion is happening and what can be done to protect people from it. How did Anopheles stephensi come to Africa? This mosquito species, Anopheles stephensi, is widespread in South-East Asia and parts of the Arabian Peninsula.…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Coronavirus rumours and regulations mar Burkina Faso’s malaria fight

HEALTH

SAM MEDNICK HEALTH worker Estelle Sanon looked on helplessly as a woman tried to make her squirming baby drink a mug of malaria medicine outside their house in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou. Normally Sanon would hold the 18-month-old and administer the dose herself, but because of coronavirus, she has to keep a distance from her patients. "If I am standing and watching the mother do it, it's as if I'm not doing my work," said Sanon, a community health volunteer assisting in a seasonal campaign to protect children in the West African country from the deadly mosquito-borne disease. Burkina Faso…