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Source: https://allafrica.com/stories/202007160049.html
Uganda: In African Villages, Coronavirus Sparks Fears of a Spike in Malaria Deaths
Sally Hayden/Thomson Reuters Foundation
15 July 2020
Gulu/Palabek, Uganda — Lockdowns have hit distribution of nets and people with malaria symptoms are delaying seeing a doctor for fear of the virus
In her small home in northern Uganda surrounded by the six children she cares for, Acayo Rose, 74, sleeps under a mosquito net she inherited from a dead relative.
"My net has many holes," said Rose, dressed in a t-shirt with the words "never quit", as she gestured towards the bedroom in the old, run-down building in Gulu district where she lives. "All the nets have holes."
Rose has just recovered from malaria, which also infected the two-year-old grandchild she cares for.
She is unemployed and went into debt to pay for the 25,000 Ugandan shillings ($6.80) medication needed to treat both herself and the toddler, whose life she feared was at risk.
"It was really terrible," she said, watching him playing with a stick on the ground.
World Health Organization (WHO) data shows about 405,000 people died from malaria in 2018, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 94% of these deaths. More than two-thirds of the victims were under five.
The WHO warned in April that the number of annual malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could almost double this year due the coronavirus pandemic to 769,000 - a level last seen 20 years ago...
Uganda: In African Villages, Coronavirus Sparks Fears of a Spike in Malaria Deaths
Sally Hayden/Thomson Reuters Foundation
15 July 2020
Gulu/Palabek, Uganda — Lockdowns have hit distribution of nets and people with malaria symptoms are delaying seeing a doctor for fear of the virus
In her small home in northern Uganda surrounded by the six children she cares for, Acayo Rose, 74, sleeps under a mosquito net she inherited from a dead relative.
"My net has many holes," said Rose, dressed in a t-shirt with the words "never quit", as she gestured towards the bedroom in the old, run-down building in Gulu district where she lives. "All the nets have holes."
Rose has just recovered from malaria, which also infected the two-year-old grandchild she cares for.
She is unemployed and went into debt to pay for the 25,000 Ugandan shillings ($6.80) medication needed to treat both herself and the toddler, whose life she feared was at risk.
"It was really terrible," she said, watching him playing with a stick on the ground.
World Health Organization (WHO) data shows about 405,000 people died from malaria in 2018, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 94% of these deaths. More than two-thirds of the victims were under five.
The WHO warned in April that the number of annual malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could almost double this year due the coronavirus pandemic to 769,000 - a level last seen 20 years ago...