Answer: the mosquito.
Malaria is still a huge health concern in this part of the world. Today is World Malaria Day. If you already knew this, or don't care, feel free to skip this post (it's more of an informercial than a update about me).
The World Health Organization recorded about 219 million cases of Malaria in 2010, with fatalities estimated between 660,000 and 1.2 million. Many of those deaths were children in sub-Saharan Africa (Nayyar et al, 2012).
It is easy to forget about this disease living in a country where the disease has been eliminated, but living in rural Africa we see the results of this horrible disease every day. Young children suffer brain damage from the high fevers. Teachers and workers are kept at home while sick. Elderly people with the wisdom of a village pass away. Infants are never given the chance to live.
A fellow teacher and I have recently been affording the opportunity to go to a week long training hosted by Anamed, Action For Natural Medicine. This training largely focused on preventing a treating Malaria using plants that can be grown locally for free. If you would like to learn more, or would be interested in donating to this cause, you can visit their website at http://www.anamed.net/English_Home/english_home.html .
We will now return you to your normal programming.
Nayyar GML, Breman JG, Newton PN, Herrington J (2012). "Poor-quality antimalarial drugs in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa". Lancet Infectious Diseases 12 (6): 488–96.
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