Malaria can be prevented by efficient co-operation of organizations that hand out nets handled with insectisides and by raising awareness on how to prevent malaria infections. Demonstrations by volunteers in malaria-infected regions are important on how to use nets. Nets last 3 to 5 years depending on how much they are used. Especially children under 5 years of age and pregnant women are in the biggest risk and need to be made sure that they have the nets at hand.

Even though HIV/AIDS prevalence have started to regress, the social and economic consequenses as well as increasing morbidity due to the disease is all yet to come. Condoms and education on attitude change are perhaps the best known prevention methods. Others include decreasing infections among drug users, transmission from mother to child and antiretroviral therapy for those who are already infected. Antiretroviral therapy needs to be emphasized since less than 10 % of HIV/AIDS infected people have access to it. Also basic prevention services need to be taken care of with legal and social changes that ends discrimination of women, HIV infected populations and individuals. For this a scaled up prevention strategy is suggested. A concrete target is to educate skillful health care professionals by non-stop investment, delegation of tasks and expansion of roles. The linkage between HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis needs to be acknowledged and promote new support mechanism in order to increase peoples access to appropriate drugs.

To prevent these infectious diseases not only more development aid from the public and involvement of the private sector is needed, more efficient coordination and management is needed. More innovations are needed as well as improved priority-setting. Payments for the use of health care needs to be removed. All this has to come from the developing country itself, it can not be forced on them. In return for increased funding, developing countries will make sure that investments are directed to improvements in health care system and results of the improvements can be shown afterwards. Efficient interventions are hindered by bleak health systems in the developing countries. The health care isn't able to reach the people that need it the most. Prevention of all infectious diseases is needed instead of preventing one while the others prevail. Health system needs more attention and resources in order to be improved. With all these prevention methods, other development issues needs to be addressed since all of them are linked together e.g. sanitation, food, poverty, gender equality and education.

 

References:

Red Cross and Red Crescent 2008: Malaria Prevention Campaign.

Ruxin, J. Paluzzi, J., Wilson, P., Tosan, Y., Kruk, M., Teklehaimanot, A. 2005. Emerging consensus in HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and access to essential medicines. The Lancet, Vol 365 (12) 618-621.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/index.html