Saturday, 25 Apr 2009 09:10
Malaria one of greatest threats to developing world, warns charity
Malaria has gone beyond being a health issue and now poses one of the most significant threats to the developing world, a charity has warned.
And the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) predicts one of the side effects of climate change will be an increase in the number of countries where mosquitoes can survive, spreading the disease to previously unaffected areas.
Nine out of ten malaria deaths occur in sub Saharan Africa where it kills one child every 30 seconds.
CIWEM is urging governments and other international organisations to broaden their thinking in regards to the causes and consequences of the disease.
The charity claims preventative measures are still too narrowly defined, although the need for ant-malarial drugs and mosquito nets remains as high as ever.
In a statement to coincide with world malaria day, Paul Horton, director of international development at CIWEM, said: "CIWEM recognises the tremendous burden of malaria on the lives and economies of those living in endemic countries. With malaria claiming the lives of children and incapacitating adults, the disease is holding back the development of an entire continent.
"There is no time to waste in the urgent struggle against malaria and governments, businesses and NGOs must work together to control malaria.
"So far the climate change aspect of malaria has been missed but countries need to bring together environment and health departments in order to manage malaria, as eradication is no longer on the agenda."