World Malaria Day 2023: Theme
World Malaria Day is observed every year on 25th April.
- It was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2007 to raise awareness about malaria.
- The theme for World Malaria Day 2023 is “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement”.
- Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite.
- This parasite is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
- Malaria is most common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.
- Symptoms:
- Once inside the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver and then infect red blood cells, causing symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and fatigue.
- In severe cases, malaria can lead to organ failure, coma, and death.
- Vaccine:
- Till now, no malaria vaccine has shown the benchmark efficacy of 75% set by WHO.
- Still, WHO gave a go-ahead for the first malaria vaccine called RTS,S to be rolled out in high transmission African countries understanding the urgency of malaria control and prevention.
- It has relatively low efficacy somewhere between 30-40%.
