Malaria A Global Crisis Essay

With roughly one million deaths per year, malaria is not only a global health crisis, but also hinders further economic and cultural development in the 40% of the world’s population living in affected areas. Around 90% of malaria cases, which persist in children and pregnant women, occur south of the Sahara in Africa ("Fact Sheet: Malaria, A Global Crisis"). Although many research studies are developing in order to halt its spread, malaria continues to grow in areas of high poverty rates, becoming one of the leading killers in the global health crisis.

The term malaria is derived from Medieval Italian, meaning bad air, where the disease was originally called marsh fever because of its rise from the swamps (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2). One of the many theories of where these parasites originated include the idea that Plasmodium falciparum originated in gorillas; however, recorded history of the infection dates back to China in 2700 BC. As it spread, Malaria became the leading health issue for U.S. troops stationed in the South Pacific throughout World War II. Malaria, in the most severe cases, is a result of Plasmodium falciparum, which is a parasite that kills more humans than any other parasite. Although the parasite involved with Plasmodium falciparum has been surviving for nearly 100,000 years, it was not until 10,000 years ago the population of the parasite grew due to improvements in agriculture and developing human settlements (“Malaria,” Wikipedia). Malaria is also caused by four other species of Plasmodium, which, although not fatal, include Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium knowlesi. The largest amount of malaria infections are a result of Plasmodium vivax; howev...

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...eration strategic plans from 2010 to 2015 (“Malaria,” UNICEF). Emergency situations are also a remaining challenge. These emergency situations include humanitarian emergencies and malaria epidemic outbreaks, which demand a prompt and effective response from the UNICEF. Aid is not reaching to countries with small percentages of the malaria infection, but if malaria is not treated promptly, it will grow into an even larger global health crisis.

As these challenges remain, the malaria infection continues to spread throughout nations and is found all over the globe on both small and large scales. Everyone is at risk of infection, for there is no immunity. With approximately one million deaths per year, malaria is not only a global health crisis, but also hinders further economic and cultural development in the 40% of the world’s population living in affected areas.