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FOR MANY Mozambicans
such as Fernando
Martias, a Japanese
donation last week of
25,000 durable Olyset
mosquito nets to fight
malaria is too little
too late.
When his village was
destroyed in the civil war,
Mr Martias fled with his
family and built his shack
on a dump-site in one of
Maputo's many slums.
Despite squalid
conditions, Mr Martias,
61, remained hopeful. The
dump was near a school.
But malaria had claimed
the lives of his four
children before they could
attend a lesson. About 125
children die of malaria
every day in Mozambique.
Mr Martias buried his
family 13 years ago. Today,
Things are worse. Sub-
Saharan Africa still has
the world's highest rates
of malaria-related deaths.
Mozambique provides
perhaps the grimmest
stories. "After burying
my own children," Mr
Martias said, "I have had
to bury dozens of
others belonging to
my friends, relatives and
family. I frankly don't
know how many. I have
lost count."
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BY BASILDON PETA
in Mozambique
The Unicef spokesman
in Mozambique, Michael
Klaus, said the situation
is now dire. "We have
seen a lot of efforts to
combat malaria by the .
government and non-
governmental
organisations, including
Unicef and its partners,
but the impact has been
very limited."
With the malaria
burden in Africa
compounded by the
resistance to standard
anti-malarial drugs, over
the past five years Unicef
has distributed 800,000
nets at a highly subsidised
price of 30,000 meticais
(86p) each. But efforts
need to be trebled, Mr
Klaus said. "We have a
huge country of 19 million
and malaria remains the
biggest child killer." Nets
need to be
aimed at the
most vulnerable people: pregnant women
and children under five.
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Even then they will cover
only a tiny fraction of the
population. Altogether,
malaria accounts for 15
per cent to 30 per cent of
all mortalities among
children under five,
between 25,000 and 50,000
deaths a year.
Mozambique has one of
the highest child mortality
rates in the world.
Throughout sub-Saharan
Africa, the disease claims
the lives of as many as
two million people per
year, three-quarters of
them children, Unicef
says. That adds up to
3,000 African children
dying every day.
In pregnant women, the
disease often results hi
severe anaemia, thought
to be a factor involved hi
up to 30 per cent of
maternal deaths in the
region. Malarial infection
during pregnancy leads to
a low birth weight of the
child, perhaps the most
important factor in
determining survival.
Malaria costs countries
in the African region more
than 1 per cent of their
GDP or at least $12bn.
And it cost Fernando
Martias his family.
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