Emergency in Africa/Curing a Broken Continent

By Austin Ruse

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM) Imagine waking up every single day anemic; listless, run down, no energy. Imagine several times a year lying in your bed while thousands of parasites steal as much as a quarter pound of your life-sustaining hemoglobin. Imagine losing weeks of work. Imagine this happening not just to you alone, but to your whole family, and to everyone in your neighborhood, your town, state, and country. 

     Indeed, imagine this happening precisely this way to nearly everyone in your entire continent and you will have some idea of daily life in Africa. 

     Writing in the current issue of PRI Review, David Morrison reports on malaria, one of the most tragic and under-reported tragedies to hit beleaguered Africa. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 40% of the world's population, or over 2 billion people must be considered at risk for malaria. Yearly, there are between 300 and 500 million malaria cases in the world. These are only the reported cases. 

     This happens all over the developing world, but in Africa it seems to hit the hardest, where between 10% and 30% of all hospital admissions for children under five are for malaria. Malaria counts for between 15% and 25% of all deaths in this young age group. 
 
     Some people look at Africa and ask why? Why is Africa in such bad shape economically? Imagine all of your citizens waking up every day with severe flu and trying to go to work. That is malaria and Africa.  How will they remember us? 

     Africa just passed Europe in total population. One day this proud giant will not be down. This giant will awaken. And when they do, when they find their power and then turn their eyes to the West, what will they remember? 

     The West, led by the American government, and supported by many UN agencies, spends billions on Africa. On malaria relief? Not by a long shot. 

     The World Bank reported a few weeks ago that only one division of one sector of their operation lent US$800 million in a single year (1996) to population control efforts. Exact figures are not known, but the total dollars pumped into Africa for things like IUDs, Depo-Provera and surgical abortions is well into the billions. 

     WHO tells us that the total world budget (public funds) for malaria is $85 million. When Africa awakes and turns their eyes to the West, what will they remember? Will they remember the billions they didn't get to cure their people and put them to work? Or will they remember the billions the we spent instead on suppressing their population? 
 
     PRI Review This valuable report on Africa and malaria can be found in the PRI Review. The seven year old bi-monthly, is published by the Population Research Institute, long established as the best think tank on population questions.  For more information: (540)622-5240, or http://www.pop.org.

 

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