Startling Report on Malaria Deaths

A new report claims there have been far more malaria-related deaths than previously reported: The Lancet estimates that in the year 2010 alone, 1.24 million people died, whereas the World Health Organization estimates that only about half that number – 655,000 people – perished due to the infection.

The difference between the results may be due to different methods of collecting data. The researchers used an array of innovative techniques to measure and categorize data, in addition to the use of “verbal autopsies” to infer the cause of death, due to the fact that many of the societies in which malaria is rampant do not issue death certificates. A surprising finding of the Lancet study is that many more people over five years of age are affected than the WHO study suggests.

Regardless of the actual number of deaths, global health experts agree that efforts to curb the incidence of malarial infections have lowered the overall mortality rate. Christopher Murray, one of the study’s authors, told NPR: “It’s rare in global health that we see such a clear quantitative story…You can see the money flowing in, you can see the expansion of interventions, and you can see the outcome.”

One of the most effective strategies is the distribution of bed nets. In fact, insecticide-treated bed nets can reduce malaria transmissions by 90 percent in areas with high coverage rates; since 2004, such campaigns have reduced malaria by 30 percent in Africa.

The Union for Reform Judaism is proud to partner with Nothing but Nets, a malaria-fighting campaign that coordinates the purchase and distribution of life-saving bed nets to the most vulnerable areas in the world. So far, the URJ has raised over $700,000 to fight malaria by selling $10 bed nets. Nothing But Nets has distributed a total of 6 million nets, which have saved countless lives.

If the Lancet study’s numbers are accurate, the need for nets is even greater given the causal relationship between the use of nets and the reduction of deaths. For more information about the Reform Movement’s role in the fight against malaria and ways for your congregation to get involved, contact URJ Social Action Specialist Naomi Abelson.