Malaria kills more than 600,000 people each year worldwide, and two thirds are children under age five in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malaria kills more than 600,000 people each year worldwide, and two thirds are children under age five in sub-Saharan Africa. Scientists have found a treatment that could prevent thousands of these deaths: trees. New research conducted at the University of Vermont (UVM) and published today in the journal GeoHealth suggests forests can provide natural protection against disease transmission, particularly for the most vulnerable children.
Malaria spreads through the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes. While malaria is a disease long associated with lower socioeconomic status, the UVM study links deforestation with higher risk of the disease, particularly for children from poorer households.
“One of the takeaways from this study is in order to have good public health policy it is also important to consider environmental conservation—not degrade the land and make it suitable for breeding mosquitoes,” says lead author Tafesse Estifanos, a former postdoc at UVM’s Gund Institute for Environment.
Read more at: University of Vermont
Malaria spreads through the bite of mosquitoes. (Photo Credit: James Gathany, Dr. Frank Collins, University of Notre Dame, USCDCP)
