Sponsor A Child Africa

By Clementina Chapusha.

Clementina Chapusha, our communications coordinator in Zambia, Africa provides this report in observance of World Malaria Day, which is tomorrow, April 25th. This year’s theme is Counting Malaria Out, and is a part of a global outreach program to educate people on the impact of malaria and efforts to stop it.

Malaria is responsible for nearly 1 million deaths annually, and infects  hundreds of millions more around the world.

It starts with a shaking chill, followed by a fever that can exceed 104 degrees. A severe headache, body aches and nausea or vomiting then takes over. The fever typically breaks after several hours, followed by drenching sweats. The fever then become intermittent. If not treated in time it starts causing damage to vital organs, particularly the brain.

“Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds.” These are chilling words from the National Malaria Control Center. To bring it closer to home, CI-Zambia last year lost six sponsored children to this deadly disease.

Seven-year-old Patson Mvula, a sponsored child from Kanyama, is a victim of recurring malaria. He is frail and rarely smiles, the pain he suffers shows on his face.
 

He sleeps on a chair the whole day listening to his friends playing outside and dreams of joining them. But his pounding headache and weak limbs leave him prone most of the time, too sick and exhausted to stand.

Patson was tested at the center using the newly acquired Rapid Malaria Testing Kit. He was found positive and immediately put on medication. His recovery may take some time but, thankfully, he is now out of danger.
 

According to Children International doctor Lalick Banda, Patson’s recurring Malaria could mean that his immunity is low or that he does not sleep under a treated mosquito net.

Thousands of children like Patson suffer from Malaria every month but without treatment they face possible death. In children below the age of 5, particularly infants, the disease tends to be more severe.  Pregnant women are also more vulnerable since their immune systems are less capable of protecting them from the disease. And for the unborn child, maternal malaria increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, premature delivery and low birth weight - a leading cause of child mortality.

Malaria is a parasitic disease that is transmitted between humans through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. It is endemic to Zambia and continues to be a major public health problem. It causes severe social and economic burden on communities, especially on the poorest and most vulnerable households.

In communities like Kanyama and Chibolya, which are overcrowded, Malaria is very prevalent because of poor sanitation, uncollected garbage and lack of drainage; all these offer conducive breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Children International-Zambia has made it mandatory to fight Malaria among sponsored families by providing insecticide treated mosquito nets. Recently the agency also purchased rapid testing kits in an effort to quickly diagnose and treat sponsored children, dramatically decreasing the potential severity of the infection.

April 25 is a day of unity in observance of the global effort to provide effective control of Malaria. CI-Zambia will join the rest of the world to mark World Malaria Day and continue working toward a time when we’ll all be “Counting Malaria Out.”