Protect People Against Malaria

A child dies from malaria every two minutes in low-income tropical countries.

The good news: Malaria is easy & inexpensive to prevent.

 

 

Scroll

Problem: Malaria in Children

A child dies from malaria every 2 minutes. Yearly, approximately 200 million people contract malaria and over 400,000 die from it.

Problem

Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide and is specifically dangerous to young children and pregnant women. Children who contract malaria can suffer from severe anaemia (major cause of poor child-development) and cerebral malaria (swelling of the brain that causes seizures and other neurological complications). For pregnant women, malaria increases the risk of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. In addition to the health impact, malaria creates a significant economic toll associated with costs from healthcare, absenteeism, days lost in education, and decreased productivity. These costs are estimated to be over $12 billion per year in Africa alone.

 

Solution

Malaria is easy and inexpensive to prevent:

  • Long-Lasting Insecticidal Bed Nets (LLINs): Distribute LLINs to all people in an affected area. These nets are set up at night around sleeping areas, and block, kill, and/or repel mosquitoes.
  • Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC): Provide children between the ages of 3 months and 5 years with anti-malarial medicine during the rainy season. This has been proven to reduce approximately 75% of all malaria cases.
  • Media Health Campaigns: Broadcast large scale media health campaigns via radio, televisions and mobile videos to millions of people in low income communities, regarding how to identify and protect themselves against malaria and how to access local resources and health workers.

Cost

  • LLINs: A LLIN costs only $2 per net and protects two people for up to three years.
  • SMC: Total cost for delivering SMC is $4.25 per child per rainy season.
  • Media Health Campaigns: Costs $22 per DALY (disability adjusted life year) or $602 per life saved.

 

Charities

  

Problem

5.3 million children under the age of 5 die every year. Over half of these deaths are preventable, if simple, inexpensive interventions, such as handwashing, were used.

Solution

Media Health Campaigns:

  • Media health campaigns broadcast via radio, television & mobile videos to millions of people in low-income countries to facilitate information exchange.
  • These campaigns raise awareness of local health care services & promote positive behaviors.
  • In a single campaign, communities can be educated on multiple health issues and the availability of local resources.
  • Ex. Exclusive breastfeeding of infants & seeking treatment for known symptoms associated with fatal diseases.

Cost

Research from Givewell on the efficacy of media health campaigns show that mass media inteventions have the potential to be highly cost-effective given its ability to reach many people at scale. For example, DMI’s campaigns are estimated to cost only $22 per DALY (disability-adjusted life year) or $602 per life saved.

 

Charities

 

Problem: Lack of Access to Health & Wellness Information

Lack of information to health & wellness information combined with sociocultural barriers results in millions of preventable deaths, especially among children, in developing countries.