The Attempt to STOMP OUT Malaria!

Malaria is the number one killer in Africa.

For those of you who may be asking themselves, “what exactly is malaria again?” I can help give you a refresher. Malaria is a parasite transmitted through the bite of the infected female mosquito. The parasite is transmitted to the circulatory system, makes its way to the liver and reproduces there. Typical symptoms associated with malaria include a cyclical fever, headache, body aches, chills, nausea and vomiting. If left untreated, severe forms of malaria can cause coma and death. There exist different forms of the malaria parasite, with malaria falciparum being the most severe and deadly. As fate would have it, malaria falciparum is the most common form of malaria in Guinea.

Prevention is the easiest and most effective way to protect all those in danger of contracting and dying from malaria. The female mosquito comes out to bite from roughly 8pm to 6am. As a result, the easiest preventative measure to use against getting bitten is to sleep under a long-lasting insecticide net (LLIN). One of our goals as PC Guinea volunteers working on combating malaria is to teach people that malaria is prevalent year-round in Guinea and that they should therefore be sleeping under nets to protect themselves all throughout the year, every night, with every family member sleeping under a net.

In 2011, Peace Corps Guinea joined together with all of the other Peace Corps Africa countries to finally Stomp Out Malaria in Africa. Currently, malaria is the number one single cause of death in Guinea, and the entire population lives in high-transmission zones. There are over 3000 volunteers across the continent, who just like me are working to bring malaria deaths in Guinea to zero by 2020. You can check out some of the cool projects being done by going to the Stomping Out Malaria website. World Malaria Day, April 25, is quickly approaching. In my village we will be marking the day by having a malaria informational booth set up at the Health Center to target pregnant women and new mothers in educating them about how to protect themselves and their children. What will you do on April 25 to help end malaria?