Bad News For Malaria (And Maybe Population Projections)

While people in the West worry about cancer and heart disease, worldwide malaria is still a nightmare killer. According to a story in the Jan. 20, 1997 <iUS News and World Report, in rural Africa Malaria claims 1 in 20 children under the age of 5.

Unfortunately there’s been a recent spate of good news about malaria. Back in January the New England Journal of Medicine reported on a vaccine for malaria which had an 80 percent success rate in preliminary studies. Just a few days ago CNN reported that researchers at the University of Illinois might have found a safe, natural way of killing mosquitoes using an oil derived from soybeans which suffocates the mosquito larvae.

Both initiatives still require several years of further testing, but if either or both are successful, countless deaths from malaria could be avoided. And there’s the problem.

What happens if fewer children in Africa die? That’s right, the population increases even more than it already is. Now, I think keeping children from dying from malaria would be a good thing even with the additional increase in population levels. Lets hope the anti-population activists have gotten over their attacks on the irresponsibility of decreasing infant mortality in the Third World and embrace this advance as well.

One thought on “Bad News For Malaria (And Maybe Population Projections)”

  1. Hey this was potentially one of the best posts I’ve had the chance to go over on the subject so far. I do not know where you gather up all of your information but up! I am gunna send a few folks your way to read this. Amazing, totally awesome. I am just getting into crafting articles myself, nothing compared to your writing skills (ha!) but I would love for you to take my stuff someday! right here

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