Experiencing Malaria’s Devastating Impact in Real Time

At Insect Shield, our team has researched and written about the impacts of malaria for more than a decade. Over the years, we have grown accustomed to, and calloused by, sharing the many staggering statistics about the disease such as these…

• A child dies every two minutes from malaria
• 3.2 billion people live in areas at risk of malaria

While statistics like these continue to rattle us, nothing could have prepared us for the experience of witnessing malaria’s impact firsthand in Uganda, while uniquely embedded behind the scenes with our International relief partner, Medical Teams International. Medical Teams responds to disasters around the world—and at home—by mobilizing more than 2,000 volunteers a year to help care for the sick and injured. Malaria is one of many diseases they diagnose and treat in Uganda.

Refugee Crisis and Uganda’s Magical Balance of Aid

Insect Shield was afforded the privilege of experiencing the work of Medical Teams from a vantage point only staff and medical professional volunteers are typically privy to. Flanked by Medical Teams staff, we were permitted to journey through several refugee settlements in the the West Nile region of Uganda, mere kilometers from borders of South Sudan and the Congo. We visited remote field offices, mobile medical clinics, nutrition and birthing centers and walked alongside incoming refugees in their first moments of peaceful arrival at a border collection point. These powerful, unique experiences will never be forgotten.

Refugee Crisis
Fighting in Uganda’s neighboring countries has pushed hundreds of thousands of refugees into border areas within the last few years. Homes have been looted, towns have changed hands between forces, famine is widespread and both men and women have suffered violence as a weapon of war. As a result, Uganda has welcomed more than one million refugees into their country since 2014. More than 1,000 Medical Teams employees join hands with 50 NGO’s and the Uganda Ministry of Health to care for the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled to safety.

Malaria in Uganda
Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that malaria is still one of the leading cause of death in Uganda, accounting for over 27% of deaths. In the refugee settlements Insect Shield visited near Adjumani, we were told of malaria rates soaring to 60% during the rainy season and child morbidity rates up to 33% (for children 5 and under).

Insect Shield Experience
While in Uganda with Medical Teams we witnessed strength and courage – real time. It was equal parts inspiring and gut-wrenching. Right before our eyes, live and in-person, we watched mother after mother, and child after child undergo malaria tests with positive results. Kit after kit showed evidence of malaria as we stood by watching. Yes, we were fluent with the statistics and these results should not have been a surprise, however they kicked us squarely in our hearts.

Snapshot of Malaria Worldwide

• Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.  It is preventable and curable.
• The World Health Organization estimates that in 2016 malaria caused 216 million clinical episodes and 445,000 deaths.

And again…

• A child dies every two minutes from malaria
• 3.2 billion people live in areas at risk of malaria