According
to the United Nations Environment Program,
"About
two-fifths of the world's population (2.1 billion)
are potentially at risk from mosquito transmitted
diseases. Annually 400 million people are at risk,
of whom 270 million are infected, causing two million
deaths.54 The problem is common in about 100 countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst affected area for
malaria with about 90% of all malaria and 80% of deaths.
This means about 1.5-2.7 million people, mainly children,
die each year from malaria. Since the reduction of
use of DDT through the 1960s there has been no impact
in reducing malaria in tropical Africa. In some parts
of Sub-Saharan Africa, one in 10 infant deaths, and
one in four deaths of children under four years are
attributed to malaria." (source)
This
demonstrates that no alternative
to fighting malaria should be denied, especially to
those countries who most need affordable, effective
and available alternatives to address all aspects
of the disease -- preventing, treating, and fighting
malaria.
The
anti-malaria toolkit includes things such as medicines,
draining stagnant water, screens on windows, bug repellant,
DDT spraying, bednets treated with insecticides, and
hopefully, an eventual vaccination against the disease.
(Read more about controlling
malaria.)
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