The burden of malaria has increased in most African countries, as the disease is not getting the attention it deserves, especially concerning malaria in pregnancy, a Zimbabwean medical specialist has said.

Incidences of malaria in pregnancy are increasing every year, with 25 million African women in malaria-endemic areas becoming at risk of plasmodium falciparum infection, Zimbabwean health specialist Sarah Tikiwa said on Sunday.

Though most women in Africa reside in areas of stable malaria transmission, pregnant women have some form of immunity and usually have asymptomatic infections. For these women, the principal effect of malaria infection during pregnancy is the malaria-related anemia in the mother and the presence of parasites in the placenta, Tikiwa said.

Although it was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, malaria was not accorded the highest level of visibility in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

Most malaria programs were hard pressed to make and report progress towards the achievement of global, regional and national targets. Yet about 550 million people are at risk of malaria in Africa, with 300 million clinical cases and one million deaths every year, mainly children under the age of five.

Tikiwa told the media on Sunday that placental parasitemia impairs foetal nutrition and contributes to low birth weight, which is the leading cause of infant mortality and poor child development in Africa.

It is estimated that in endemic areas, malaria in pregnancy can contribute as high as 15 percent of maternal anaemia, 36 percent of premature babies, 70 percent of intrauterine growth retardation, 14 percent of low birth weight and 8 percent of infant death.

In areas of low or unstable malaria transmission, pregnant women have relatively little or no acquired immunity to malaria, hence all pregnant women, regardless of parity, have a similar risk for malaria infection, the specialist said.

Tikiwa said a number of international initiatives were put in place as far back as the early 1990s, which, according to the picture on the ground, seem not to have achieved much.

In 1990, the United Nations agreed on eight Millennium Development Goals, which 191 member countries pledged to achieve by the year 2015. And malaria in pregnancy has a bearing on the success of some of the Millennium Development Goals.

Source: Xinhua