Malaria and Climate Change: A Global Health Challenge Essay

This essay examines malaria as a significant global health challenge, emphasizing the crucial role of environmental determinants, particularly climate change. The introduction highlights the interaction between humans and their environment, setting the stage for a discussion on malaria's global impact, with more than 200 million cases reported annually and over 400,000 deaths. The essay explores the Protozoan parasite Plasmodium as the cause of malaria, emphasizing it as a preventable disease linked to human negligence towards environmental health. It discusses how factors like rising temperatures, global warming, and human activities such as dam construction create breeding grounds for mosquitoes, thereby increasing the risk of malaria transmission. The study also includes the impact of climate change in high-altitude areas and the role of greenhouse gas emissions in increasing global warming. The essay concludes by advocating for global warming prevention through increased awareness, environmental education, reduced carbon emissions, and the promotion of renewable energy sources to combat malaria.

MALARIA: THE GLOBAL HEALTH CHALLENGE 0
GLOBAL HEALTH CHALLENGE
MALARIA
7/20/2018

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Introduction
Interaction of human beings with environment is a constant process. Therefore,
maintaining a healthy environment is significant for living a healthy and quality of life. No
doubt, human beings harm the environment in many ways and it affects them back in the
form of ill health. It was estimated by World Health Organization that each year more than
200 million cases of malaria is detected with more than 400,000 deaths (Medium, 2018).
Malaria is a deadly disease though caused due to the bite of female anopheles mosquito but
the reason behind this disease is the human negligence.
Malaria: The Global Health Challenge
Today the world is facing global health challenge due to various environmental
factors causing severe health issues and diseases. The disease malaria is caused due to
Protozoan Parasite Plasmodium. It is a preventable disease. The disease is caused due to the
ignoring and negligent attitude of human beings towards environment and surroundings in
which they live. Highest deaths due to malaria were recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa due to
temperature rise and rainfall pattern. The main reason for this disease is climate, ever
increasing temperature and global warming as it is seen in warmer region the transmission of
this disease is quite severe than in colder regions (Cugh, 2018). In addition, the human
activity of constructing of dams and reservoir provides breeding sites for the mosquitoes
causing malaria. The ever-rising temperature and change in climatic conditions contributes
significantly to the disease. Scientists discovered that people living in high altitude area are at
great risk of the disease because of rise in temperature and climate change in the high altitude
area (Independent, 2015). It was concluded that with the rise in temperature, the parasites
causing malaria develop faster and mosquitoes quickly become more infectious and so the
chances of transmission of malaria increases. It was being suggested by the latest research
that with the progress in global warming malaria will spread to high altitude areas. The main
reason for the increase in global warming is high temperature, which is caused due to
greenhouse gas emissions (Smithsonian, 2014). These greenhouse gases (carbon- di -oxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and many more) are rapidly increasing because
of the carelessness and negligence of human beings. In order to make their life more
comfortable and luxurious they are compromising with their health. For example: Use of air
conditioners and vehicles used by humans lead to temperature increase. The consequences of
temperature rise can be seen in the form of increased cases of malaria and death due to this
disease. It is a matter of environmental concern to prevent global warming in order to
preserve and save human life (Bouzid, 2016).
Conclusion
To fight with this deadly disease (malaria) it is important to prevent Global warming
which contributes to this disease. This can be done by increasing awareness among the
people. To promote and increase awareness it is important that the government of the
particular country should come forward and impart environmental education to the citizens. It
is also the responsibility of the citizen to contribute towards creating a healthy environment.
For this, it is important to reduce carbon emission and increase the use of renewable energy.
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Focus should be given on reducing greenhouse gases, which is the main culprit responsible
for global warming. Once the problem of this ever increasing global warming will be solved,
it can be expected that the cases of malaria and death causing due to it will reduce to a great
extent.
References
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Bouzid, M. (2016). Examining the role of environmental change on emerging infectious
diseases and pandemics. USA: IGI Global.
Cugh. (2018). Malaria: the global health challenge. Retrieved from:
https://www.cugh.org/resources/423
Independent. (2015). Climate change is increasing the risk of malaria for people living in
mountainous region in the tropics. Retrieved from:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/climate-change-is-increasing-the-risk-
of-malaria-for-people-living-in-mountainous-regions-in-the-9174448.html
Medium. (2018). 10 Threats to global health in 2018. Retrieved from:
https://medium.com/@who/10-threats-to-global-health-in-2018-232daf0bbef3
Smithsonian. (2014). As Temperature Rise, Malaria will invade higher elevations. Retrieved
from: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/temperatures-rise-malaria-
will-invade-higher-elevations-180949996/
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