Ok, that was definitely not me. But yes, some people actually think that way; wondering, "why should I care about malaria if I can afford treatment anyway."
Wrong.
In 2013, there were 198 million cases, and 584 000 deaths from Malaria. 3.2 billion (half of the world population) are at risk. In 2014, 97 countries had on-going malaria transmission. The global malaria mortality rate was reduced by 47% in 2000 - 13, and an estimated 4.2 million lives were saved as a result of a scale-up of malaria interventions. US$ 5.1 billion is needed every year, double the funding available. Malaria costs USD 12 billion per year in direct losses
Bla, bla, bla..figures. It may not even mean much to you.
Today, my message is about abusing anti-malarials: Taking anti-malarials without getting tested and failing to complete the dose.
If you abuse anti-malarials, you are tearing down the efforts of others to contain malaria, essentially putting the lives of others at risk by building the mosquitoes' resistance to the drugs.
From former simple drugs like chloroquine, we now use the Artemisinin combination therapy (ACTs) because of drug resistance. ACTs are more effective, but much more expensive. And with the years, these medications will get even more expensive, taking them farther out of the poor's reach (your brothers' and sisters') who really need them - kind of 'indirectly' killing them.
Today, let's ponder on the far-reaching implications of our actions- after all, what goes around, comes around.
May all the souls of those who died from malaria rest in peace!
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