The first factor I will like to discuss is lack of access to quality medical care. A lot of the children that die from complications due to malaria are children that are affected by severe poverty and whose families lack the resources to seek appropriate medical care or to purchase the necessary medications.
The second factor I will like to discuss is delayed treatment. According to a study published in the Journal of Malaria, effective malaria controls are dependent on early diagnosis and treatment. When there is a delay in the diagnosis or treatment of uncomplicated malaria in the early stages, the chances of development of serious complications increase. Some of the reasons for delay in treatment in diagnosis might be that the physician was unable to make the diagnosis in a timely manner or the patient did not seek care in a timely manner.
The third factor I will like to discuss is the lack of education on the measures of prevention and personal protection in order to prevent malaria. As stated earlier, malaria is a preventable disease. The use of mosquito nets and insecticides are great prevention measures to avoid being bitten by the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasites. People who are travelling to malaria endemic regions should be educated to use anti malarial medications for prevention before and during travel.
In response to the efforts of many global health organizations and non governmental organizations to try to alleviate some of these factors there has been some progress noted but this progress still remains very slow.
References
1. W.H.O. (2012, April). Malaria. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/
2. Jayannath, S., Manoj, V. M., Naman, K. S., & Yvan, H. (2009). Risk factors for malaria deaths in jalpaiguri district, west bengal, india: evidence for further action. Malaria Journal, 8(133), 1475-2875. Retrieved from http://www.malariajournal.com/content/8/1/133
No comments:
Post a Comment