Urbanizing Malaria an Emerging Threat
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[A Press Release from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
is appended below the news story.]
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996740
The deadly rise of urban malaria
Urban malaria is emerging as a potential but "avertable" crisis
in Africa, scientists are warning.
Malaria kills millions around the globe and until recently was
believed to be a disease of rural areas, since the Anopheles
mosquito - which transmits the deadly parasite between people -
breeds in stagnant waters.
But now, scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
(LSTM) in the UK are issuing a global alert that "urban malaria
is a new, emerging tropical disease".
"In the past, malaria has generally been associated with swampy,
rural areas, but our research in west Africa has produced more
and more evidence to show that malaria is now actually being
transmitted in cities."
It's not just a health sector problem - it involves all munici-
pal authorities, government and environmental planning.
Urban farming
Part of the problem is thought to stem from more vegetables and
crops being grown within city boundaries, as more of the world's
population moves into urban areas.
"Urban agriculture is a problem, for some families, urban ag-
riculture is a food security issue. So it is not feasible to
come up with policies that remove agriculture."
With the United Nations forecasting that by 2025 over 800 mil-
lion people will live in African cities, urban malaria could be-
come a major problem.
Weblink Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine:
http://www.liv.ac.uk/lstm/index.htm