Malaria

Get involved and help beat malaria

Malaria:

  • A preventable disease that affects almost half of the world’s population and causes over 655,000 deaths per year, mainly young children in Africa
  • An infection caused by the malaria parasite entering the bloodstream – usually through the bite of an infected mosquito
  • A disease that has a particularly devastating effect in Africa (as the map above shows), where over 90% of malaria deaths occur

 

Making malaria no more…

Malaria is preventable and treatable. Every life lost is needless. Malaria deaths can be prevented using a combination of measures proven to save lives including mosquito nets, malaria tests and medicines.

We are part of a global movement to reach near zero deaths from malaria by 2015.

We fund programmes and partners in Africa who use a combination of approaches to fight malaria. This means they use every tool at their disposal to prevent, diagnose, and treat malaria as well as promoting widespread malaria education. We also support and promote innovation and research into finding new and better ways to fight malaria, including using new technology, developing new insecticides, medicines and vaccines.

Find out more:
 

Fighting Malaria

Focus on

↓ Scroll over to learn more

  • Nets

    Focus on Nets

    Malaria carrying mosquitoes bite most at night. Sleeping under a mosquito net* offers double protection providing both a physical and a chemical barrier from mosquitoes. This is one of the most simple and effective means of malaria prevention and studies show that mosquito nets cut malaria cases in children by half and deaths by 20%.

    *Whenever we talk about nets, we are referring to ‘Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets’ (LLINs) which have insecticide impregnated into the fabric of the net so it does not wash out. Each net lasts approximately three years and typically covers two people.

  • Education

    Focus on Education

    Education underpins the fight against malaria. Understanding how malaria is transmitted and the action needed to prevent, diagnose and treat this disease is essential. One of the simplest routes to good education comes through Health Workers who are often the first local point of contact for people at risk of malaria. Health workers are based in their local communities and give practical guidance on how to live malaria free as well as testing for and treating malaria.

  • Testing

    Focus on Testing

    There used to be a widespread assumption that all fevers were due to malaria meaning everyone was treated for malaria. Fortunately, progress in diagnosing malaria means this is no longer the case. The current priority is to accurately diagnose suspected malaria cases using a malaria test and this policy is now being rolled out across Africa thanks to the availability of simple rapid diagnostic test kits.

  • Treatment

    Focus on Treatment

    Once someone is diagnosed with malaria they need to be quickly treated with Artemisinin Combined Therapy (ACTs) – the most advanced and effective malaria medicine.

MNM TV

Fighting Malaria: Today and Tomorrow

Malaria research, development and delivery of new tools

There are a large number of researchers and scientists working to make sure the tools we have now to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria are as efficient as possible; and to develop new tools for the future. We help to highlight the fantastic work that they are doing and explain the importance of science and research for the future of the fight against malaria.

These include: PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) who are working on the first malaria vaccine for launch in a few years; Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) who develop new medicines to treat malaria; the International Vector Control Consortium (IVCC) who work on the best easy to prevent the spread of malaria by tackling the mosquito; and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) who work on developing the best possible tests to diagnose malaria – in particular the Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) that are now being introduced in Africa and elsewhere.

We also work with partners on the ground delivering malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment including ADDRO in Ghana; NetsforLife in Namibia; and CHAI in Namibia and Botswana.

Could there be a future vaccine?

Vaccines are traditionally seen as the most effective – and often cheapest – means to stop the spread of disease. Scientists around the world are working on the development of a vaccine against malaria. It would be the first ever vaccine against a parasite and so developing a vaccine is very challenging, but potentially a huge step forward in the fight against malaria. There is currently a vaccine going through trials in African and if approved it could be available from 2015. Any vaccine will only be effective in preventing malaria if it is used alongside bed nets and insecticide sprays.

Progress

Childrens lives saved from malaria since the start of 2011
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This last decade has seen record progress and results to save lives.

Since 2000:

  • Global malaria deaths have been reduced by more than 26%
  • Over 1.1 million children’s lives have been saved in Africa
  • 8 African countries have cut malaria incidence by more than half
  • 35 of the 53 countries affected by malaria outside of Africa have cut malaria cases by over 50%
  • 25 countries are currently on the path to eliminate malaria
  • Mosquito net ownership in sub-Saharan Africa has risen from around 3% to 50%
  • Progress has been made thanks to governments around the world prioritising the fight against malaria with international funding rising from $35million in 2000 to almost $1.5billion in 2009 – a fortyfold increase
  • We know investing in malaria control works and, with full funding, at least three million lives could be saved by 2015 in 20 of Africa’s most malarious countries.
  • For £5 we can purchase, transport and deliver a mosquito net that will help save lives and protect a mother and child from catching malaria. Make a donation now

Olivia Kanyama with Elastous, Bandu and Pedras, Namibia

Did you know?

  • Malaria affects almost half of the world’s population
  • Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease – every life lost is needless
  • Every year, over 655,000 people die from malaria, over 90% of these deaths are in Africa
  • A child dies from malaria every minute
  • Malaria costs Africa more than £8 billion annually in lost productivity
  • Deaths from malaria have fallen by 26% since 2000
  • 485 children’s lives are saved every day through malaria prevention measures such as mosquito nets, the spraying of insecticide in homes and education on malaria
  • Sleeping under a mosquito net saves lives – nets cut malaria cases in children by half and reduce child deaths by 20%
  • David Beckham and Andy Murray are part of the fight against malaria as founding members of our Leadership Council
  • Our policy advisors are international experts in the field of malaria research and development
  • Although we are a small team, we have made a big impact – we have helped raise enough funds to protect over five million people from malaria and we communicated malaria messages to people around the world
  • We have a unique mascot to help make malaria no more: Mozzy Man, is a friendly mosquito and our biggest fan!

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