According to the World Health Organization, "in 2013,
malaria caused an estimated 584,000 deaths (with an uncertainty range of
367,000 to 755,000), mostly among African Children." 198 million cases of
malaria were reported to the CDC in 2013. With those numbers, that means a child dies every minute
from malaria and most of the deaths are children under the age of five years. Hospitals
records show that malaria is responsible for 30 to 50 of the all the outpatient
visits in Africa. However, the United States sees less than 20,000 cases per year and most of them are from tourist who return home with Malaria. Here in Uganda, Malaria claims the lives of 70,000 - 110,000 Ugandans a year.
So what is malaria may you say? Well, Malaria
is a life-threatening disease that is transmitted from infected mosquitoes to
people. Not all mosquitoes carry the parasites; it is the only ones who are
infected. It is something that affects people around the word in countries that
have not been able to get to a point where they have removed most of the
mosquitoes that carry it like the us has.
Below is a map of the Ugandan Malaria
Transmission. As you can see Fort Portal is in the low transmission level
yellow.
In the Kabarole District there are not
many mosquitoes and the ones I do find are slow, large, big, and easy to kill. They are also not the ones that can carry malaria - those have checkered colored legs. During the dry season there are only a few and
during the rainy season there tends to be more of them but only when it is dry
for a couple days after a big rain. I am currently in Kampala and I see a lot
more of them buzzing around. Fort Portal is higher up in altitude and also cooler in climate,
which mosquitoes do not like. Fort Portal is around 55/60 degrees currently.
The Ugandan Government did a national
bed net distribution a little over a year ago but of course most people never
got them (either people sold the bed nets, gov’t officials made people pay for them when they were suppose to be free, they never got to
people deep in the villages, or they were sold them for profit and so on). Most people I
talk to do not use bed nets or they have one bed net for the whole household. The
funny thing about malaria here is that most people get it but most people do
not get tested or only go to the doctors when it gets really bad so there is
not a very clear idea of if someone actually has malaria. They also view
everything that makes them sick as either malaria or the flu.
Peace Corps Volunteers in Uganda and around the world are always educating
people on Malaria as it is one of our main goals as health volunteers to lower the rate of infected people. We work to provide people
with information about what to look for, treatment options, and also looking at
ways of preventing malaria. My first second term health talk will be about Malaria in June. In Peace Corps, the whole month of April all the way through May 15th
is the Peace Corps Malaria Challenge with its Stomp Out Malaria campaigns. This is when PCV’s get points and awards for
doing various activities and events that engage the local people in malaria prevention. I have had the opportunity to be a Malaria Champion
for the West and Southwest, who keeps track of the activities and points PCV's do in the communities and I have to say I am so impressed and proud of the volunteers who have done activities they are amazing and so inspiring! According to Stomp Out Malaria Peace Corps Uganda, "Collectively, Volunteers and their counterparts reached a
total of 18,053 individuals, and an additional 11,039,800 through mass
communication channels." We are planting the seeds of change one individual at a time. SO COOL!
I love my bed net
just like I love my pit latrine. I sleep under a bed net every night as it
keeps the mosquitoes, spiders, and any other creepy crawly thing that comes
along in the night away from me as I snooze! Many of our fellow PCV's have gotten malaria one time or another here in Uganda but all the West PCV's myself included have yet to get malaria (I don't plan on getting it while I am here) but even though the Fort Portal area does not get very many mosquitoes that does not mean we won't be there to help and educate in anyway we can. Malaria needs to be stopped.
Happy Fighting And Ending Malaria Month!
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