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Datos sobre la infancia
Malaria
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Frequently Used Figures for Malaria:
Malaria kills over one million people and sickens between 350 and 500 million more people each year. Nine out of 10 deaths are among sub-Saharan African children below age five.
While the disease has been eliminated from temperate climates, it still affects tropical and sub-tropical regions. Approximately 40 per cent of the world's population is at risk of malaria.
Many African families spend a quarter of their annual income on malaria treatment. The disease is estimated to be responsible for an estimated average annual reduction of 1.3 per cent in economic growth for those countries with the highest burden.
In many parts of Africa and most of Asia, malaria has become increasingly resistant to traditional treatments such as chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine. A more effective therapy, artemisinin-containing combination therapy (ACTs), costs 10-20 times more at US$2-3 per adult dosage.
The use of insecticide-treated bed-nets in areas of high transmission can reduce child deaths from all causes by over 20 per cent and malaria illness by 50 per cent. At end-2004, fewer than five per cent of African children were sleeping under an insecticide-treated net; the US$2-5 that it costs is beyond the reach of poor households.
Malaria, together with HIV/AIDS and TB, is one of the major public health challenges undermining development in the poorest countries in the world. A rough estimate of total costs for universal coverage in both prevention and treatment in Africa is US$3.2 billion per year, with US$850 million going to operational and health system support costs. In 2004, spending on malaria was US$600 million, or 20 per cent of the total needed.
Note e.g.: the statement above (which also appears on the "World Malaria Report 2005 - Fact Sheet) regarding cost for prevention and treatment in Africa as 3.2 billion. The actual quote from the report is: The estimated cost for supporting the minimal set of malaria interventions required to effectively control malaria is around US$3.2 billion per year for the 82 countries with the highest burden of malaria (US$1.9 billion for Africa and US$1.2 billion elsewhere).
