Malaria is caused by a
parasite that is transmitted by mosquitoes. Right now 99 out of every 1000
children that are born in Uganda dies from malaria. The deaths from malaria are
currently greater than the people that die from HIV/AIDS. “The overall malaria-specific mortality is
estimated to be between 70,000 and 100,000 deaths annually, a death toll that
exceeds that of HIV/Aids”. This disease is the cause of the decrease in
work productivity and absences in the school. Uganda is currently expected to
spend $23.4m on approximately 13 million malaria cases. Spending this much money puts a strain on the
economy. Maria Kiwanuka, the finance minister pledged to establish a malaria
prevention plan that would help get a control on malaria. This strategy included
giving out bed nets, getting cost effective medicines, and promoting the awareness
of malaria prevention. Altogether, Africa looses twenty five percent of income
in health care cost and thirty one working days annually due to sickness.
This article forced me to view the situation from a sociological
perspective; comparing the US to Uganda. Since malaria is a worldwide epidemic,
I realize that it is a macro issue and not a micro. After researching the
worldwide distribution of Malaria, I notice that it is mainly distributed among
the poor countries as of 2003. I also noticed that America has little to no
distribution of malaria. History shows that there have been multiple lines of
defenses against malaria; in the early years, DDT was used worldwide to control
the number of mosquitoes but it was soon found to have many human side effects.
After DDT, there were more cures but they became less effective. By the time scientists
got to the third generation, each new generation of drugs had become more
expensive. Poor countries such as Uganda simply cannot afford to spend millions
on mosquito control without putting themselves in an economical bind. Due to
the fact that the drugs are far too expensive, malaria is making what some
people would call a comeback, causing Uganda to lose a percentage of money in
health care cost.
Khadijah Tucker
9/19/13
9:28
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