Fight Against Coronavirus Casts Light on Other Heath Crisis

Fight Against Coronavirus Casts Light on Other Heath Crisis

The hunt for a cure for COVID-19 draws attention to another “forgotten” health crisis that continues to claim more than 400,000 lives around the world every year — mosquito-borne malaria.

As some political leaders and doctors suggest readily available anti-malarial drugs may be beneficial in treating coronavirus patients, TEL International and other organizations are highlighting the much-overlooked “deadly scourge” of malaria.

World Malaria Day — an annual awareness event — was April 25, and malaria-fighting organizations like TEL International are eager to see that the ongoing battle against the mosquito-spread menace doesn’t get ignored or forgotten because of COVID-19.

Almost half the world’s population is at risk from malaria — spread by infected mosquitoes — and children under five years are the most vulnerable.

Despite the effectiveness of anti-malarial drugs like chloroquine — recently touted as a treatment for coronavirus — malaria still kills more than 400,000 people worldwide every year, more than double the global coronavirus death toll to date.

Each year, there are more than 200 million reported cases of malaria, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. So far, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide stands at about 2.5 million and rising.

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