10 Things Gospel for Asia Wants You to Know As We Reflect on World Malaria Day

WILLS POINT, TX – According to Dr. Seth Barkley, the CEO of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, “Malaria is still one of the biggest killers of children worldwide, taking the lives of over 200,000 children each year.”

April 25 is World Malaria Day. Because the disease is still widespread in large regions of the globe, Gospel for Asia has shared 10 facts to remind us about this life-threatening disease:

1. The Institute of Health Metrics & Evaluation estimates that more than 720,000 people die of malaria each year. This is significantly higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) estimate of 438,000.

2. Malaria is still one of the leading causes of child mortality.

3. More than 70 percent of malaria fatalities are children under the age of 5.

4. Ten percent of all child fatalities in 2016 were caused by malaria.

5. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 90 percent of all malaria deaths.

6. Countries with the highest malaria death rates currently include:

7. A 2015 study published by Nature.com quantifying the most effective means of malaria prevention to date indicated that insecticide-treated mosquito nets provided the most widespread intervention.

a. The report cited treated mosquito nets to be the “largest contributor” to averting malaria at 68 percent of cases.

b. Numerically, treated mosquito nets averted 451 million of 663 million cases.

8. There is a dynamically growing number of children under 5 who sleep under treated mosquito nets in malaria-prone regions.

9. It is estimated that 66.6 percent of children in India sleep under the protection of treated mosquito nets.

10. The malaria virus is becoming increasingly more drug resistant. One doctor specializing in malaria prevention has described drug resistance as “one of the biggest threats we face.”

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