BAMM! April is Blog About Malaria Month

Malaria is a disease carried by mosquitoes. It is common in tropical areas including sub-Saharan Africa and Zambia. Symptoms are usually headache, fever and chills, but can be fatal if left untreated. 5. Malaria affects more than 4 million Zambians annually, accounting for approximately 30 percent of outpatient visits and resulting in almost 8,000 deaths each year. In Zambia, malaria is the biggest cause of death in children under  Under five-year-old children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable, especially those in more remote and impoverished areas, with 35-50 percent of under-five mortality and 20 percent of maternal mortality attributable to malaria.

Malaria is treatable. The most common problems run into here is the refusal to use mosquito net for its intended use. Instead it is used as a fish net, fence, or many other creative uses. The access to malaria tests and treatment. My village is 22km (13mi) from the nearest clinic and the form of transportation available to most of my villagers is riding a bike.

To prevent malaria in myself I take a weekly (some are daily) anti-malarial. Every Peace Corps Volunteer is required to take one, especially because we have no natural immunities. Another preventative is to sleep under a mosquito net. The type of mosquito that carries malaria is more active at night and it reduces risk of being bitten. Everyone in Zambia is recommended to sleep under one.



The mosquito net I sleep under every night.



Stomping Out Malaria in Africa is a Peace Corps initiative that uses strategic partnerships, targeted training Volunteers and intelligent use of information technology to support the local malaria prevention efforts of over 3,000 Volunteers in sub-Saharan Africa. For more information go to stompoutmalaria.org and follow Stomp activities at http://www.facebook.com/StompOutMalaria.



My cousin from my training family.
Malaria is especially dangerous to kids.