Rawalpindi:Malaria, considered as the second most reported disease in Pakistan, remains the fourth largest preventable cause of death in the country among communicable diseases as according to estimates, nearly 50,000 deaths can be attributed to malaria and co-morbidities every year.
Approximately 60 percent of the population in Pakistan is living in the areas where the disease is endemic but still its prevention, diagnosis and treatment along with recording of data are not being given due attention both at the federal and the provincial levels. As many as 39 districts of Balochistan and Sindh are called as high-risk areas on the subject of malaria transmission.
Malaria remains a major killer of children under five years of age. People living in the poorest countries, children under the age of five, pregnant women, people with HIV/AIDS and international travellers from non-endemic areas are most vulnerable. Women are four times more likely to suffer malaria during pregnancy resulting in low-birth weight and still births.
Health experts believe that World Malaria Day being observed on Saturday (today) provides an opportunity to sensitise the public and the stakeholders to take serious measures to end malaria. Experts say that the government should devise a strategy to help minimise the losses due to the disease that continues to kill thousands of people annually.
Experts say that it is easy to prevent malaria in the country if the concerned government authorities take the matter seriously. It is believed that the absence of political will and poor resource planning have led to the rapid spread of infectious diseases impacting economic development in the country.
They say that to prevent and control the spread of malaria, there is a need to create awareness among the public on various aspects of the disease. Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the species Plasmodium that are spread from person to person through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes called “malaria vectors”, which bite mainly between dusk and dawn.
Malaria is not transmitted from person to person like a cold or the flu. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. The common first symptoms -- severe shivering, fever, headache, vomiting, and profuse sweating -- appear 10 to 15 days after a person is infected. If not treated promptly with effective medicines, malaria causes severe illness that may be fatal. The malaria bout lasts between 2-6 hours and malarial fever recurs periodically every 48 to 72 hours.
Studies reveal that malaria during pregnancy may cause spontaneous abortion, premature birth, stillbirth and intrauterine growth retardation. Malaria in Pakistan is epidemiologically unstable. Peak transmission occurs in the post monsoon months from August to November. The key interventions to control malaria include early diagnosis and prompt treatment of cases, universal coverage of all people with risk, use of long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets during sleeping.
