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| THE UNACCEPTABLE SUFFERING OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN MALARIA COUNTRIES,
April 26, 2003 |
A message from PREMA-EU for Africa Malaria Day - Friday 25th April, 2003
Each year at least 30 million women are exposed to malaria infection during their pregnancy, a moment when their immunity is usually low. Pregnant women with a malaria infection usually do not feel sick and do not take any treatment but are often anaemic and deliver smaller babies who are more vulnerable to common childhood diseases. It is thought that malaria is the most important cause of low birth weight in Africa. These children have an unacceptable high risk of dying in their first months of life, but even after this period low birth weight infants are more than four times more likely to die than normal birth weight infants. Moreover, it is estimated that up to 1 in 4 deaths in African pregnant mothers in hospital are related to malaria. The number of deaths has increased since the emergence of the AIDS epidemic and because commonly used antimalarial drugs are not as effective as in the previous years.
Malaria deaths in pregnancy are avoidable. Considering that malaria during pregnancy is often unsuspected and undetected, it is recommended that all pregnant women in African malaria endemic countries receive an effective antimalarial treatment at regular intervals. This treatment will help protect them from malaria. It is a simple intervention that can have an enormous impact on the health of millions of pregnant women and their newborn babies. The use of bed nets treated with insecticide can also decrease the risk of malaria and will have major beneficial effects on the health of the pregnant woman and her baby. Currently, these two interventions do not have the expected impact because access to antenatal care services, where the antimalarial treatment is offered, is often difficult and bed nets are unaffordable for most African women. Without more resources and efforts to control malaria in pregnancy, thousands of women and children will continue to needlessly die.
For further information please contact Dr Francine Verhoeff.
PREMA-EU
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| WHO |
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