By SOLA OGUNDIPE
AS the world marks another World Malaria Day today, the 11th in series, 12 years after the historic Abuja Declaration of April 2000,  malaria remains the world’s most deadly infectious disorder.

Precisely 12 years ago, year 2010, was marked the pivotal year or “the end of the Roll Back Malaria decade” in the campaign to attain the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria and other endemic countries.

*A child in hospital

But, according to UNICEF, 300,000 under five years old die every year even in the face of availability of simple cost-effective preventive measures, including consistent use of long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets, and anti-malaria treatment for pregnant women.

For sheer numbers and threat to human life. Nigeria is one of Africa’s hardest-hit, accounting for between 30 and 40 percent of malaria deaths on the continent. In absolute figures, malaria is the biggest killer of Nigerian children under five years of age and a major contributor to the nation’s maternal mortality indices.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) a quarter of all malaria cases in Africa occur in Nigeria. The numbers are numbing. Almost half of the world’s human population (approximately 3.3 billion) is at risk; over 1.0 million deaths annually; 3,000 child deaths in Africa  daily or one child every 30 seconds, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.. 60 percent outpatient visits and 30 percent hospitalisations; 25 percent of deaths in children under one year old; and 11 percent of maternal deaths. No other known disorder compares to such deadly potential.

This year’s theme – “Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria” – marks a decisive juncture in the history of malaria control. There are posers. Will malaria burden continue to decline, or will the malaria parasites gain upper hand? What resources are being invested in control efforts for the future?

According to the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership, investments in malaria control have created unprecedented momentum and yielded remarkable returns in the past years.

But as the partnership notes: “These gains are fragile and will be reversed unless malaria continues to be a priority for global, regional and national decision-makers and donors. Despite the current economic climate, development aid needs to continue flowing to national malaria control programmes to ensure widespread population access to life-saving and cost-effective interventions. Long-term success will also depend on investments in on-going research and development to combat emerging threats such as parasite resistance.

The RBM argues that “sustaining malaria control efforts is an investment in development” and that “continued investment in malaria control now will propel malaria-endemic countries toward near-zero deaths by 2015 and achieving the MDGs, especially those relating to improving child survival and maternal health, eradicating extreme poverty and expanding access to education.”

Currently, there is no vaccine available for malaria, researchers are still trying to develop one. Science still has no magic bullet for malaria and many doubt that such a single solution will ever exist. Nevertheless, effective low-cost strategies are available for its treatment, prevention and control and the Roll Back Malaria global partnership is vigorously promoting them in Africa and other malaria-endemic regions of the world.

Mosquito nets treated with insecticide reduce malaria transmission and child deaths. Prevention of malaria in pregnant women, through measures such as Intermittent Preventive Treatment and the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), results in improvement in maternal health, infant health and survival. Prompt access to treatment with effective up-to-date medicines, such as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), saves lives.

Critical observers are of the view that if countries can apply these and other measures on a wide scale and monitor them, then the burden of malaria will be significantly reduced.