I came to Cameroon to be a teacher but I often observe that I am learning much by being here. I’m learning life skills and attitudes but I’m learning some important facts as well. For example, today I learned that malaria is still one of the largest causes of death here in Africa. Every year there are more than half a million deaths due to malaria, most of those deaths are young African children.
Malaria is not some incurable disease that we know little about. Malaria has been with us since our species evolved. We have a lot of information about malaria; we know how to prevent it, we know how to treat it, and we’ve known these things for decades. In fact, malaria used to be prominent in America as well but it was successfully eradicated in 1951. It is possible to eradicate malaria globally. So why is it still such a killer?
It’s often been pointed out that sometimes the people who are the most effected by something give it the least importance. I talk with my family from home about malaria and they are afraid of it, they think it is a terrible and dangerous disease but they have had little experience with it. I talk with my friends and neighbors here about it and they shrug it off. Malaria has become a part of typical life here in Cameroon; almost everyone I know has either had malaria or has a close family member who had it.
How do you fight something that is culturally accepted? I’m doing malaria activities this month and my personal main goal is to get my students, neighbors, and colleagues to tell me even one reason they care about malaria by World Malaria Day on the 25th. I don’t want my students to shrug or roll their eyes about malaria. So why care? Children, pregnant women, and people with HIV are highly susceptible to malaria. If you have malaria and don’t get treated because you think you can fight it off, every time a mosquito bites you the mosquito can become infected with the parasite and transmit it to other people, this is especially dangerous for these at risk groups. One person not getting treated can cause many others to become infected and it leads to the continuation of the disease. Why care? Children are disproportionately affected by malaria. Approximately 67% of Cameroon’s malaria deaths were children under 5. The continued presence of malaria contributes to the high child mortality rates in African countries. Why care? Malaria hurts the economy. Malaria accounts for billions of dollars in GDP lost annually in African countries, countries that are developing and those dollars could have made huge strides in building infrastructure. Much of Cameroon’s economy, for example, comes from farmers. When farmers are become sick with malaria, crop yields are lower due to the reduced work done. Not to mention that families have to spend money frequently on treating malaria, money that could have gone to increasing their production or family businesses. Why care? Malaria can be eradicated if a society bands together to take the necessary precautions.
There are countless reasons to care about malaria. Help raise awareness, share a facebook post, change your profile picture, or discuss some facts with friends for World Malaria Day. Small things can spread knowledge and that’s what we need the most.
