Asia

Home page

Asia

’Malaria kills 200k in India each year’

28 October 2010 21:30 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The number of malaria victims in India is over 200,000 people each year, 13 times more than UN estimates, a study reveals, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Previous estimates by World Health Organization (WHO) reported that some 15,000 people died of malaria each year out of which 10,000 were adults and the rest children.

In a new study published by The Lancet, it was reported that WHO’s methods are faulty since it depends â€œindirectly on patients who have been diagnosed by a doctor,â€ AFP reported.

But in reality most deaths occur at home in India and not clinics and hospitals.

To investigate, field workers were sent to 6,671 random areas who interviewed relatives or caretakers of some 122,000 people who died from 2001 to 2003.

In the questionnaire, the field workers asked if the deceased died of fever. Two doctors then analyzed this and other data specifying the causes of death independently. Then a review board arbitrated in cases of dispute.

In the end the doctors agreed 3.6 percent of deaths for people aged one month to 70 years was due to malaria. They also found that 90 percent of deaths occurred in rural areas and 86 percent was out of reach of a health-care facility.

Extrapolating the information nationwide, they found malaria kills some 205,000 a year before the age of 70, out of which 55,000 die in early childhood, 30,000 from ages 5 to 14 and the rest between 15 and 69.

The authors believe WHO has probably miscalculated malaria’s death toll in other countries as well.

The reports said, â€œIf WHO estimates of malaria deaths in India or among adults worldwide are likely to be serious underestimates, this could substantially change disease control strategies, particularly in the rural parts of states with high malaria burden."