• 300-500 million people currently suffer from malaria, the majority of whom are young children.
• One out of 20 children in Africa dies of malaria before the age of 5.
• The primary cause of absenteeism in African schools is malaria. In Uganda, for example, on average a child misses 42 days of school, and children under 5 have malaria six times a year.
• Families spend approximately 20% of their income on malaria treatments, and public health institutions spend up to 40% of their budgets on out-patient treatment for malaria.
• In Africa, at least 24 million pregnancies are threatened by malaria
  each year. Less than 5% of pregnant women receive effective interventions.
• Malaria in Africa is estimated to cause 15% of maternal anemia and 35% of preventable low birthweight.
• All told, the disease results in an economic loss of $12 billion to economies in Africa each year, slowing economic growth by approximately 1.3%.

One of the most effective ways for families to prevent malaria is to use insecticide treated nets (ITNs). Click here for more on ITNs.

RBM Strategic Framework on Scaling Up ITN Programmes in Africa
(pdf, 128 KB)