Malaria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Malaria - Essay Example In actual fact, Malaria is still the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in many parts of the world and more especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, it is an indication that the tools available for malaria control are neither adequate nor good enough for the prevention. Therefore, participating in malaria clinical trial will help in finding a permanent solution for this disease as together with other researchers we try to find curative and preventive drugs and vaccines for malaria. Additionally, by getting involved in malaria clinical trial I will be able to have a chance to propagate and advocate a malaria vaccine and make it available for routine use. Moreover, I will be able to offer my own ideas and notions about this terrible disease as well as get to know qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection purposes especially in Africa. This will help to know how endemic is this disease and also facilitate in finding a malaria vaccine which will be more efficacio us than the malaria drug which has been used from time immemorial as a malaria control tool. To be precise it is clearly known that malaria is a tropical disease and is spread by female Anopheles mosquitos which are infected by a plasmodium parasite. Therefore, this plasmodium falcipavum malaria causes millions of clinical episodes globally but mostly endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria involves diseases such as shaking chills and high fevers among others. In countries like Ghana malaria claims so many lives of children and in 2008 only there were numerous deaths of children under the age of twelve years. Malaria can leads to cerebral malaria and anemia if not well controlled (Isle, 2001). Many strategies and measures have been taken to combat malaria; rapid diagnosis, treatment, intermittent preventive treatment especially given to pregnant women, use of sulphadoxine- pyrimethamine insecticide treated nets and introduction of sprays and mosquito repellant lotions. All these have been known to reduce morbidity and mortality, but this does not mean that there are no challenges. For instance, if mosquito nets are not used effectively people will still continue to die. For example, the nets may have a hole and used badly, some of the therapies are also facing resistance in some countries. These include Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) which is facing challenges of resistance in Thailand especially in Cambodian border. Therefore, going back to research more on how to eradicate malaria is very essential. Hence my participation in a clinical trial will not be propagation for new effective and appropriate drugs but to try and convince the researchers to focus on a vaccine and not a drug. Truly, vaccine has worked effectively for so many years’ records, and history has it that the vaccine has a great ability to protect humanity from diseases. Precisely, a vaccine has helped so much in combating smallpox, fighting polio and making the measles and yellow fever very rare (Dziedizc, 2010).. Therefore, vaccine can do so much more for public health, and I have a great conviction that malaria vaccines