Join Quantum Health and Vitamin Angels Help Stop The Spread of Malaria
A simple $5 mosquito net can save lives.
Malaria is a parasitic disease that kills 3,000 children every day and more than 1 million people each year. Those living in sub-Saharan Africa are the hardest hit with children under 5 and pregnant women being most effected.
One of the most effective forms of prevention is mosquito nets for beds. Anti-malaria bed nets can last three to five years. Two to four people will sleep under a single net. Malaria is not just a health problem - it’s a major cause of poverty. It stunts children’s growth and makes them too sick to go to school which limits their opportunities later in life.
Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Your email receipt will include IRS tax documentation.
Where your money goes:
Quantum is working in partnership with the Vitamin Angels, a non-profit charitable organization. 100% of your donation will go to Vitamin Angels. From there, your money will go to the Zambia Malaria Foundation (www.malaria.org.zm) to purchase nets which will be given to those most in need - the poorest of the poor. David Shaw, CEO of Quantum Health,visited Zambia in June of 2007 - to read about his trip, click here.
Malaria Facts
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes and is found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.
Malaria kills more than one million people every year and causes more than 500 million serious illnesses each year
90 per cent of deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
In Africa, malaria is the number one killer of children under five years of age.
Malaria is also a major cause of perinatal mortality, low birth weight and maternal anaemia.
40 per cent of total health expenditures in Africa are related to malaria.
Malaria costs Africa $US12 billion per year in lost GDP.
One child dies every 30 seconds, equivalent to seven Boeing 747 airplanes crashing every day.
What is malaria?
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted from human to human by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. In 1880, scientists discovered that a one-cell parasite called plasmodium causes malaria. There are four forms of plasmodium that affect humans however Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous and the most common in African countries south of the Sahara including Zambia.
Though once widespread, malaria has been eliminated from many countries with temperate climates. Today malaria is found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world and causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths annually. Ninety percent of these deaths occur in Africa south of the Sahara and constitute 10% of the continent's overall disease burden. Malaria is the leading cause of deaths in young children and pregnant women are the main adult group at risk in endemic areas of the world.
Can malaria be prevented?
Yes it can, Infection is easily preventable with something as simple as an insecticide-treated bed-net wrapped around a bed to prevent mosquito bites. Since malaria-infected mosquitoes feed between dusk and dawn, a properly used insecticidal net can cut the risk of infection by about 50%. Bed net programs alone will save tens of thousands of lives in Africa, most of them children. In addition, programs that include indoor spraying of homes with insecticides are effective as well. After the mosquito bites a human, it will go land on a wall to rest. If the wall is sprayed, it dies, preventing it from carrying any malarial blood it has picked up to another human.
Who is at risk?
Adults living in areas where malaria is endemic have semi-immunity to the disease, however, pregnant women, children, and immunosuppressed people (i.e. HIV+) do not have the same immunity and are at greater risk of contracting and suffering from complicated cases of malaria. Children often have malaria incidence rates five times those of adults.
How is malaria transmitted?
Malaria is a vector-borne disease (passed from human to human by another medium). The vector for the malaria parasite is the female Anopheles mosquito. The cycle begins when an uninfected mosquito bites an infected person, ingesting the malaria parasite, known as plasmodium, along with the human blood. The parasite develops within the mosquito for a week or more before it is passed to another human through another mosquito’s bite.
Once the parasite has entered a human’s blood stream via an infected mosquito, the parasite matures and multiplies within the cells of the liver. This incubation usually lasts seven to ten days. After the incubation period, the parasite enters the human’s red blood cells where the parasites continue to grow and multiply. The red blood cells burst and the parasites can then enter liver cells, continuing the cycle.
What are the symptoms and consequences of malaria?
During the time the parasites are in the liver, the host human may experience fever, headache, abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting, general body pains, and body weakness. In severe forms of malaria other body organs such as the brain (cerebral malaria) and kidneys (black water fever) may be involved. Symptoms associated with severe forms of malaria include convulsions and changes in behavior and level of consciousness. Severe forms of malaria can lead to death.
Malaria often causes anemia and jaundice in patients. Because of poor nutrition, many people, especially children and pregnant women, in economically depressed countries like Zambia are anemic before malaria infection. Malaria-aggravated anemia often directly or indirectly causes death.
In pregnant women, malaria can cause miscarriage, premature delivery, and stillbirth.
Can malaria be treated?
Yes! Malaria can be treated, but patients must receive the treatment immediately. Because the parasite has developed resistance to the drug chloroquine (tablets or injections) it is no longer recommended by the MOH for treatment of malaria. Instead, artemether-lumefantrine (Coartem®) is being prescribed for first line intermittent treatment and SP (Fansidar®) is being used for pregnant women and children under 10kgs.
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted from human to human by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. In 1880, scientists discovered that a one-cell parasite called plasmodium causes malaria. There are four forms of plasmodium that affect humans however Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous and the most common in African countries south of the Sahara including Zambia.
During the time the parasites are in the liver, the host human may experience fever, headache, abdominal pains, nausea and vomiting, general body pains, and body weakness. In severe forms of malaria other body organs such as the brain (cerebral malaria) and kidneys (black water fever) may be involved. Symptoms associated with severe forms of malaria include convulsions and changes in behavior and level of consciousness. Severe forms of malaria can lead to death.