Though Malaria was eliminated from the United States in the early 1950’s, it still can affect half of the world’s population. 3.2 billion people live in areas at risk of transmission in 106 countries and territories. Because it is one of the world’s deadliest diseases, one of the top killers of children, and keeps livelihoods and communities from thriving, we want to tackle it head-on by sharing researched facts about this illness and explain what YOU can do to help!
What is Malaria?
“Malaria is a disease of the blood that is caused by the Plasmodium parasite, which can be transmitted from person to person by a particular type of mosquito.” To read a detailed description about transmission, go here.
- Chills, fever, and sweating, usually occurring a few weeks after being bitten.
- Pain areas: in the abdomen or muscles
- Whole body: chills, fatigue, fever, night sweats, shivering, or sweating
- Gastrointestinal: diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting
- Also common: fast heart rate, headache, mental confusion, or pallor
It’s important for someone who has contracted this disease to receive treatment within 24 hours, though that is not always doable.
Here are a few economical reasons we should be fighting against Malaria:
The Huffington Post wrote:
“About 3.3 million lives have been saved because of international malaria control interventions, the World Health Organization reports, and malaria mortality rates in African children have dropped by about 54 percent. Hopeful statistics like these help validate USAID’s declaration that the war on malaria is the “greatest success story in global health. But there’s still significant work to be done.”
This graphic does a great job covering all you need to know about this deadly illness:
So what can we do?
This is the reason that Mission Partners for Christ exists; to be the church to the world through medical missions. For us, being the church means that providing access to medical treatment that we often take for granted here in the USA is a big part of that. Our hope is that some day, this deadly disease will be completely wiped out. This is an achievable goal, but we need your help to get there.
There is a lot that we can do to win the war against this disease. Things like providing access to medical treatment and professionals, preventatitives like bed nets, and education about how the illness spreads are all important factors to eradicating malaria. These are the things that we provide on our outreach trips.
Mission Partners For Christ provides education in the communities we serve all about prevention, and we provide treatment during our outreaches. This treatment is costly but necessary. If you want to make a difference and help us beat this preventable illness, please volunteering for oone of our trips or consider a donation to our organization to help support our efforts.