Malaria is widespread and kills one African child every 30 seconds. It is the leading cause of death among under-fives in many African countries including Uganda.
Malaria is caused by a parasite living in the blood, which is caught from the bite of an infected mosquito. It is endemic across many parts of Africa. The parasite has a two day life cycle; every two days, when it breaks out of blood cells, a patient has a high fever which then subsides.
Without treatment, symptoms can carry on indefinitely. Though some forms of malaria are milder than others, causing lethargy and weakeness, other forms are more serious and in acute cases can lead to death.
85% of malaria cases and 90% of child deaths from Malaria are in Africa.
Different medicines are used to treat malaria.
Olaforent is involved in sensitizing the communities on the use of long lasting insectcide treated mosquito nets and making sure that the mosquito breeding grounds are dealt with, looking for a quick and effective system of case management, better drugs to fight the disease, and strong larvicides and insecticides approved by the World Health Organization, whose high toxicity can keep mosquitoes out of homes for up to a year.