World Malaria Day 2019: Theme, advent of first vaccine and prevention

The World Health Organization obeserves World Malaria Day every year on April 25 to raise awareness about the deadly vector-borne disease. The latest World Malaria report states that Malaria remains to be global health burden and there is no significant reduction in malaria cases in the period of 2015 to 2017.

India is among the 11 countries that contribute 70 per cent to the world's malaria burden, the other 10 being in sub-Saharan Africa, said the report. In 2018 alone, 3,99,134 cases were reported in India.

The usual symptoms for the disease is known to all. It includes high fiver with chills.

This year marks the 12th anniversary of the World Malaria Day. It was initiated in May 2007 for the first time by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly.

World Malaria Day 2019: Theme

World Malaria Day focuses on a specific theme every year and this year the theme is ‘Zero malaria starts with me’.  The focus of the programme is to empower communities across various countries to take ownership of preventing malaria and providing proper care of the treatment to those in need.

Every year, the global tally of new malaria cases exceeds 200 million. And every 2 minutes, a child dies from this preventable and treatable disease. 

Malaria takes a heavy toll on health systems, sapping productivity and eroding economic growth. 

Malaria c can spread not just through mosquito bites but also from mother to unborn child, through blood transfusions and by sharing needles used to inject drugs.

World Malaria Day: First Vaccine launched in Africa

Ahead of the world Malaria Day, first malaria vaccine ever has been launched in Malawi after concerted efforts of over 30 years to protect children from the deadly disease that claims over 435,000 lives globally every year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed the Government of Malawi's landmark pilot programme.

The launch of the first and only malaria vaccine, known as RTS,S, makes Malawi the first of three countries in Africa where it will be made available to children up to 2 years of age. Ghana and Kenya will introduce the vaccine in the coming weeks, WHO said in a statement.

Malaria: Prevention

In order to prevent malaria, make sure you wear clothes that cover you properly, especially if you are going to damp areas where mosquitoes can breed. Apply insect repellents on your skin and even on clothes. In times when malaria incidence is high in your surroundings, sleep under a net.

Home remedies like drinking ginger and cinnamon tea, apple cider vinegar, grape juice are effective in reducing the fever caused from Malaria. Patients can soak fenugreek seeds in water overnight and drink the water in an empty stomach to fight weakness caused by abrupt rise and drop of body temperature.