Fighting Malaria Worldwide: Observing World Malaria Day 2012

“Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria” – World Malaria Day 2012 on 25 April upholds a strong theme to reverse the rate of death in Malaria in developing countries. Millions of people in the malaria endemic areas are threatened by a simple mosquito bite that can lead to death. In Bangladesh, malaria is affecting 13 districts where more than 11 million people lives in a vulnerable situation. Children under the age of 5 and expecting mothers are considered to be at high risk.

The National Malaria Control Program is partnering with NGOs to implement control activities in the affected areas to reduce morbidity and mortality and achieve the Millennium Development Goal – ‘Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases’. With the support from Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), Bangladesh government has strengthen and expanded national malaria control activities. A BRAC led consortium of 21 local NGOs is working in close collaboration with National Malaria Control Program, developing  a comprehensive network that covers four districts, including three ‘difficult to reach’ Chittagong hill tract districts, and reporting about 80% of malaria morbidity in the  country (See BRAC’s Malaria Control). The success and sustainability of malaria control program is widely reliant on how far we could educate the community people about the disease and its’ consequences, facilitate early diagnosis and prompt treatment services, and more importantly, increase the coverage, reaching people in all 13 prevalent districts.

This year, the call for funding for malaria control is being highlighted, considering the remarkable return throughout the world. Continued effort to fight malaria will drive us attain the MDGs not only for combating diseases, but also for those related to improving child and maternal health status and eradicating poverty.