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Malaria kills about 200,000 newborn babies and 10,000 new mothers every year. Most of these deaths are in Africa. Malaria can also cause mothers to lose their babies before they are born, or cause a baby to be born early.
There are low-cost ways to prevent malaria infections. But a new study finds that many pregnant women do not receive these interventions. Jim Tedder reports.
For the past 20 years, the World Health Organization has advised pregnant women in areas with high rates of malaria to sleep under bed nets treated with insecticide. The WHO also advises them to get what is known as intermittent preventive treatment, or IPT. This treatment involves taking a low-cost anti-malaria drug at certain times in their pregnancy in an effort to prevent the disease. The WHO recommends that pregnant women receive the medicine, usually around four times, during visits to a clinic.
Many pregnant women and new mothers go to medical clinics in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet researchers say only about 21% receive intermittent preventive treatment during their pregnancy. And less than 40% are given protective bed nets. |
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发表于 2013-10-4 22:50:35