If you live outside of an area that has malarial mosquitoes, you never need to worry about your child dying from it. Yet malaria threatens the lives of half the world’s population. It’s particularly deadly to children and pregnant women — and even when non-fatal, malaria can damage a child’s cognitive development.
A child dies from malaria every two minutes.
On top of that, malaria creates and reinforces poverty, limiting the economic development of individuals, families, communities, and countries. Direct costs in Africa alone are estimated to be a whopping $12 billion each year.
The good news: malaria is easy and inexpensive to prevent.
Simple, inexpensive, and proven solutions save millions of lives every year. A US$2 bednet from Against Malaria Foundation protects two people for three years. You can pay for a child’s seasonal malaria chemoprevention treatment for under US$5 with Malaria Consortium. And for between US$7–$27, you can help Development Media International add a year to someone’s life who heard one of their malaria awareness radio campaign.
[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Malaria’s Impact Worldwide
[2] World Health Organization, Malaria Fact Sheet
[3] 2017 President’s Malaria Initiative, Executive Summary
