Malaria is a dreaded disease and it is caused by a parasite
called Plasmodium Falciparum, which is transmitted via the bites of an infected
anopheles (female) mosquitoes. Malaria
is said to be responsible for over two million deaths annually, it continue to
hamper development of African continent due to lost time development factor.
Sub-Sahara Africa has always been worst hit by malaria since it is one of the
leading causes of death in children. These facts, makes malaria one of the most
important health problems faced in the Sub Saharan Africa. Nigeria shoulders over
40 percent population capacity of this sub-continent.
This parasite attacks the human body and multiplies
uncontrollably in the liver, and then infects red blood cells. Symptoms of
malaria include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, and usually appear
between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can
quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs
of the body.
The present increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant
strains of the parasite, with an attendant rise in resistant to treatment with
several of the available drugs that used to be effective have made it necessary
to keep looking for new sources of safer and effective treatments via drugs and
various therapies. In many parts of the world, malaria is still being treated
with orthodox and traditional medicine, otherwise called “combine therapy”. In
advance economies combine therapies are always the best approach to treatments
that are dreaded and complicated like cancer and related diseases. Plants have also,
always been the source of important compounds of some presently available
useful anti-malaria drug like quinine and artemisinin. The crude extract of
cinchona tree bark and leaves of Artemisia annua were used successfully in the
treatment of malaria infection, especially in south East Asia. China and
Vietnam are very typical examples.
In a similar relationship, the transformation of a normal cell into a
cancer cell can occur when the genetic material (deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA)
of a cell is changed, or mutated. A tumor is the result of multiple gene
mutations within a single cell. Years or decades before a tumor is formed in a
tissue, a cell can become weakened by various factors, making it more
susceptible to later transformation into a cancer cell. Cancer is often a
disease of age, with many occurring after age fifty. Cancer is graded in stages, there are four stages. The first and second
stage is determined by size of cancer, the third stage is by size and if it has
traveled to other parts of the body, the fourth stage of cancer is the worst
and it has gone to parts of the body. Cancer cells can divide abnormally and
out of control. In which in a much generalized term is defined by abnormal
uncontrolled cell growth.
Although
cancer ravage cannot be compared to malaria ravage or as a prevalent in Africa,
but it’s still poise another health challenge to our societies in Sub-Saharan
Africa and due to lack of technology in this part of the world to tackle them,
cancer patient are normally left on their own just as HIV/AIDS patients. This
may be due to cultural and societal tendencies associated with these infectious
diseases. As a result, cancer patients are often left to die when there are no
huge sums of money for their treatment, most especially if patients are low
income earners.
Cancer is
becoming a prevalent health challenge to sub Saharan Africa, yet it is thought
to have no name in most of over two thousand languages in Africa. But I know in
Hausa land, it is called “Daji”. It is also expected that a million new cases
are due to be reported in sub-Saharan Africa this year- a number predicted to
double to 2 million a year, in the next decade due to recent economic
advantages of this sub-continent.
Dr. David
Kerr. A cancer specialist based at Britain's Oxford University and former president
of the European Society of Medical Oncology, Kerr set up the charity AfrOx in
2007 to help African countries seek to prevent and control cancer.
"There
have been some marvelously effective campaigns around AIDS, tuberculosis (TB)
and malaria, and of course infectious diseases like those are terribly
important," he said in an interview. "But already there are more
deaths in the world from cancer than from AIDS, TB and malaria combined."
By 2030,
according to predictions from the World Health Organisation (WHO), 70 percent
of the world's cancer burden will be in poor countries, a prediction Kerr says
leaves most lay people, and even many doctors, "utterly astonished".
"They
think cancer is a disease of the wealthy. But the reality is that, in part
because of success in tackling infectious diseases, Africans are living longer.
It's almost a booby prize that they're now living long enough to get
cancer."
For many
women in Africa, that means diseases like breast and cervical cancer have
become common causes of death before their victims have begun to learn about
them, let alone find words for them.
A study
published in 2011 found that since 1980 new cervical cancer case numbers and
deaths have dropped substantially in rich countries, but increased dramatically
in Africa and other poor regions. Overall, 76 percent of new cervical cancer
cases are in developing regions, and sub-Saharan Africa already has 22 percent
of all cervical cancer cases worldwide.
The same
research found that some poorer countries saw a rise in breast cancer cases of
more than 7.5 percent a year over the 30 year period studied - more than twice
the global rate.
If we take
the case HIV/AIDS, we all know that HIV/AIDS is dreaded disease to Sub-Saharan
Africa. It has killed many countless number of people-Men, Women and Children
of all ages. Today African leaders have nothing more to offer their citizen as
far as HIV/AIDS is concern. It is a major public health concern and
cause of death in many parts of Africa. Although Africa is home to about
14.5% of the world's population, it is estimated to be home to 69% of all
people living with HIV and to 72% of all AIDS deaths in 2009.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has
predicted outcomes for the region to the year 2025. These range from a plateau
and eventual decline in deaths beginning around 2012 to a catastrophic
continual growth in the death rate with potentially 95 million cases of
infection.
Without the kind of health care and medicines (such as
anti-retroviral) that are available in developed countries, large numbers of
people in Africa will develop AIDS. They will not only be unable to work, but
will also require significant medical care. This will likely cause a collapse
of economies and societies.
In an article titled "Death Stalks a Continent",
Johanna McGeary attempts to describe the severity of the issue. “Society's
fittest, not its frailest, are the ones who die—adults spirited away, leaving
the old and the children behind. You cannot define risk groups: everyone who is
sexually active is at risk. Babies too, [are] unwittingly infected by mothers.
Barely a single family remains untouched. Most do not know how or when they
caught the virus, many never know they have it, many who do know don't tell
anyone as they lie dying.
In some African societies, infectious diseases like
HIV/AIDS, cancer and other opportunistic infections like TB are believe to be a
taboo to an infected patient, as such live the distressed patient to die as an
outcast in that society. Because friends and families of the infected person
deserts him like water evaporates from a sun dried leaf.
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