World Malaria Day is celebrated every April 25th. This annual event is a worldwide effort to raise Malaria awareness and funds for malaria treatment and prevention. Hundreds of thousands of people die from malaria every year. In 2017 alone, malaria deaths totaled 435,000.
Malaria is a disease transmitted through a mosquito bite when parasites from the saliva of an infected mosquito enter a person’s bloodstream. Within a week or two, the infection becomes very visible. Symptoms develop in the form of fatigue, fever, headache, and vomiting. In the most serious cases, malaria can lead to yellow fever, seizures, coma, and death.
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Malaria has been known to exist for more than 4,000 years. Malaria was widely recognized in the Greek region in the 4th century BC and is believed to be the main cause of the decline of urban populations at that time. In medical development, Malaria was recognized as early as 1753. However, it wasn’t until Alphonse Laveran discovered the parasite in the blood in 1880. After that only in 1990, Patrick Manson was able to prove that mosquitoes are the factor that transmits this disease.
World’s Malaria Day firstly began as Africa Malaria Day. The day has been commemorated by African governments since 2001 but was first observed in 2008. However, the 60th session of the World Health Assembly changed Africa Malaria Day to World Malaria Day. The purpose of this is as an opportunity to assess the progress of efforts aimed at controlling malaria and reducing malaria deaths in African countries.
Source : idntimes
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