Friday 25 April 2008

Malaria in conflict



Conflict causes 30% of malaria deaths in Africa.
In 2007, 26 million people were driven from their homes by conflict. The effects of climate change - and conflict over limited resources like water, food and land - mean that every year, many people are likely to be forced from their homes. They often end up on land which has been abandoned because of the risk of malaria, or forced to live in over-crowded camps with poor health services, water, food and shelter.
In these situations, malaria is at its most deadly: frequently, more people die from the disease than the actual violence!
Insecticide-treated bed nets have a vital role to play in preventing malaria. But nets don't work so well if, like many displaced people, you have no bed, and no home. Malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment require intensive, local information gathering which is often extremely difficult when people are still migrating or when violence is rife.
Read the rest here.
Another good article here for revision for Int 2 and Higher here

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