Malaria Elimination Strategies:
As previously mentioned, it is not financially feasible to try and eradicate Malaria entirely. Therefore, the goal is to eliminate Malaria from regions where it is still prevalent. The goal is to reduce Malaria incidents and deaths by 90% by the year 2030. While the number of cases of Malaria has started to decrease over the years, annually 100,000 infants still die from disease. Malaria is most prevalent in children under the age of five. Malaria is still rampant in Sub-Saharan Africa but can also be found in 95 countries throughout the world.
However, even with these statistics we know that elimination is still possible. Malaria (for the most part) was eliminated in the United States in the 1950s through the use of insecticides, closed sewage systems, and window screens. One problem that the United States faces is travelers bringing the disease back from overseas. A report found that 1,500 people are diagnosed with Malaria in the United States each year. That number has continued to increased since the 1950s. It is believed that if the number of cases worldwide decreased so would the number in the United States. It is also important to continue to work to eliminate the disease in the United States because patients usually receive a hospital bill of $25,000 after treatment of the illness (5).
How to Reduce Transmission?
Like most diseases, swift and proper diagnosis and treatment is essential to preventing the further spread of the disease. Furthermore, using bed netting and window screens can also greatly decrease the risk of becoming infected. When traveling and when pregnant it important to take anti-malaria medication which has been proven to be very effective. In addition, working to eliminate stagnant pools of water and open sewage near homes can help to decrease the ability of mosquitos to reproduce and spread the disease.
What would it cost?
Bill Gates is a leading contributor to funding the “antimalaria efforts.” Some reports believe that eliminating Malaria will cost around 90-120 billion dollars. However, this would require funding of about 6.4 billion to support the efforts annually, which is currently much higher than the funding being provided.
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Obviously, 120 billion dollars is an incredibly large sum of money. However, it is reported that if Malaria was reduced to less than 90% prevalence then by 2040, 2 trillion dollars would be saved in healthcare costs, and around 11 million lives would be saved. So when comparing the cost versus the money and lives saved, it seems clear that if Malaria was eliminated there would be a huge profit in both human life and monetary value. This value could then be used to eradicate other diseases and provide better healthcare to people around the world (2).
Citation Number 2.