We are just scratching the surface

With global warming issues on the rise, temperatures are skyrocketing and the bugs are staying out for much longer.

Here in North America our major concern comes from West Nile virus. No big deal though, slap on some bug spray, avoid dark colours, and get a new bug zapper.

Another major problem however, also stems from mosquitoes. Malaria is a disease that kills 3,000 children every day and more than one million each year. The majority of these deaths occur among children under five years of age and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Malaria is a major issue for people who live in Africa, Asia and sub-tropic Americas. A tiny mosquito ruins the lives of thousands when it releases a parasite that multiplies with the red blood cells, this usually happens in your liver.

Anti-malarials exist that do not cure the disease but provide sufficient treatment to lessen the effects. Instead of throwing up, having diarrhea, a fever, the chills, nausea, and potentially lapsing into a coma you will feel ill for 3-4 days. A friend once told me that having malaria "feels like you're going to die."

Anti-malarials can be quite costly. The Clinton Foundation has been working to reduce the cost of the drugs. "The foundation, along with UNITAIDS, a global organization that fights AIDS, has also reached a deal with pharmaceutical companies to decrease the cost of antiretroviral drugs for poor countries. Prices will drop from about $200 per person per year to $25 to $60." (http://philanthropy.com/news/philanthropytoday/2744/clinton-foundation-works-to-decrease-price-of-malaria-drugs)

The decrease in cost is amazing, especially considering that some people, such as Zambians, make only one thousand dollars a year and 86% live below the poverty line.

Generic pharmaceuticals are crucial in this fight against needless deaths. Patents prevent companies from producing cheaper versions of life saving medicines. Canada has passed many bills and laws about selling generic pharmaceuticals but very few pills have left the country. Direct funding for malaria by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has in fact fallen from $20 million in 2005 to $9 million in 2006. Economic adviser Jeffrey Sachs estimates that malaria can be controlled for US$3 billion in aid per year.

"Malaria causes lost income, missed school, lower harvests due to untended fields, and the depletion of family savings for medicines. In Africa alone, US$12 billion in lost productivity occurs annually, up to 1.3% of the continent's GDP." (http://www.results-resultats.ca/action/actions/2006/2006-07-en.aspx)

Malaria can be successively fought with insecticide treated bed nets. These bed nets cost 10 Canadian dollars and can save lives.

Something can be done. Actions are being taken. However, these actions are not numerous enough.

Action Items:
- Write to your Member of Parliament or email Bev Oda (Oda.B@parl.gc.ca), telling them you want Canada to increase its funding for anti-malarials
- go to Spreadthenet.org and donate ten dollars and save a life (Rick Mercer mentioned it in his blog)
- protect yourself from mosquito borne diseases by eliminating standing water, staying covered, using bed nets, and educating yourself about how diseases are spread by insects

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito."
- Anita Roddick