World Malaria Day 2020: protecting pregnant women from malaria

This World Malaria Day – 25th April 2020 – Malaria Consortium is focusing on malaria in pregnancy. Not enough is being done to protect pregnant women and their unborn babies from malaria. 

According to the 2019 World Malaria Report, every year 11 million pregnant women are infected with malaria. It is estimated that malaria in pregnancy contributes to the deaths of 10,000 women and causes 100,000 newborn deaths every year.  

Pregnant women are often unaware of the danger of malaria to themselves and their unborn child, and many of them lack access to effective antenatal care – or fail to seek it due to fear or lack of information.

We have put together a host of content to highlight this issue for World Malaria Day 2020.

1. We have just published a brand new animated film about malaria in pregnancy. You can read about it – and watch it – here.
2. Our first blog on malaria in pregnancy is here. It offers an easy-to-read overview of the problem, and how we can address it.
3. Read Imelda’s story of how her life has been badly affected by malaria in pregnancy – and how the use of preventive medicine and insectide-treated nets have protected her.
4. On Friday 24 April we hosted a Twitter chat on malaria in partnership with the Medicines for Malaria Venture, King’s College London, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Malaria No More. The live chat has ended, but you can still engage with it on our Twitter feed, and through the hashtag #MalariaChat.
5. This piece from our ICCM+ project in Uganda shows how valuable Village Health Teams are at advising mothers on antenatal and postnatal care, hygiene, nutrition, and protecting themselves and their families from malaria.
6. Our Senior Vector Control Specialist, Leo Braack, has written about malaria elimination in Southeast Asia for the Southeast Asia Globe.
7. Our Global Technical Director, James Tibenderana, has written about protecting pregnant women from malaria during COVID-19 for SciDev.Net

Remember that you can access all of our resources on malaria in pregnancy on this page.