West Africa's fight to control the spread of the Ebola virus in the area has halted the campaign against malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that has ravaged West Africa for years now, killing thousands of people more than Ebola has ever done.
In one province in Guinea, Gueckedou, where Ebola has started to silently kill people in December 2013, doctors have reported stopping and postponing blood tests for malaria because of precautionary measures on Ebola. However, the rate of Malaria cases dropped by 40%.
Yet, this should not be considered positive news according to Dr, Bernard Nahlen, deputy director of the United States President's Malaria Initiative. The reduction in reported cases of malaria maybe due to people being scared to seek medical attention.
"It would be a major failure on the part of everybody involved to have a lot of people die from malaria in the midst of the Ebola epidemic. I would be surprised if there were not an increase in unnecessary malaria deaths in the midst of all this, and a lot of those will be young children," he said in an interview.
Last year, about 15,000 died from Malaria in Guinea alone. This was according to a report from Nets for Life Africa. This was compared to Ebola deaths in the same country which totaled to 1,600 in one year since it started in December 2013.
Subsequently, Nets For Life reported that Malaria is the leading cause of death in children under five years old in Guinea. In adults, the leading cause of death is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) but Malaria follows in closely.
The two diseases share common symptoms including fever, dizziness, and body pains. However, the mode of transmission and infection differ because Malaria is caused by mosquito bites from infected vectors while Ebola can be transmitted through body fluids. This is one reason why Malaria blood tests are hampered in fear of contracting the disease.
Health officials are hopeful that Malaria will also receive as much attention and resources given to Ebola because it has been killing children in the African region for decades already.