Friday is World Malaria Day. David Daltonargues that many simple steps could be taken to help combat the disease
At least one million deaths are caused by malaria each year, the majority of which could be prevented - given the correct interventions.
The disease is transmitted by mosquitoes and worst affected regions are the tropics and sub-tropics. However, 90 per cent of the deaths occur in Sub Saharan Africa where malaria kills a child every 30 seconds.
Malaria was once thought to have come from marshy areas, hence the name mal aria or bad air, but in 1880, scientists discovered that the real cause is a parasite called plasmodium which is transmitted via the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito looking for blood to feed her eggs.
Malaria can be transmitted to people of all ages and the first symptoms - fever, headache, chills and vomiting - appear 10-15 days after a person is infected. Early treatment will shorten its duration and prevent complications and the great majority of deaths.
And herein lies the problem. In many impoverished countries, anti-malarial drugs are simply not made available to the majority of the population and, even when they are, parasites can often develop a resistance to them. Nor are sufficient malaria-prevention programmes being implemented.
As a result, malaria, together with HIV/Aids and TB, is one of the major health challenges holding back development in some of the poorest countries of the world.
Nor are the problems associated with malaria confined to health, there are severe economic consequences also.
It has been estimated that, in countries where it is prevalent, malaria causes a loss of 1.3 per cent of economic growth annually which, when compounded over the years, adds up to a substantial drain on national wealth.
On a more local level, malaria can trap communities into poverty. It affects marginalised and poor people disproportionately because they cannot afford treatment or have limited access to healthcare.
Malaria also increases poverty by causing children to miss school and it makes their parents less productive.
To mark the new millennium in 2000, representatives of all 191 UN member countries made a solemn pledge to the poorest people of this world. They pledged to achieve eight development goals by the year 2015. Among these goals, called the Millennium Development Goals, is a pledge to "combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases . . . and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases".
They further promised that, in co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, access would be provided to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
Eight years on and more than half-way through the period set out for their achievement, it is now fairly clear that the Millennium Development Goals, including that on HIV/Aids and malaria, will most probably not be reached by 2015.
In fact, in some African countries it is widely believed they will not be reached until the middle of this century, if at all.
But malaria will never be defeated in the corridors of the UN - it is in the villages and cities of the developing world that greatly increased action is needed. We cannot allow another generation of unfortunate children to suffer so needlessly.
It is an affront to all that is civilised and an indictment of all humanity that we allow a child to die every few seconds from such a preventable cause.
The majority of deaths from childhood malaria are caused by delays in receiving treatment. A child who contracts malaria and fails to get treatment can die within hours or days, so speeding up access to treatment is essential.
Apart from minimising the delays in giving treatment there are other weapons at our disposal in the fight against malaria.
It is surely not beyond mankind to initiate a campaign of supplying affected regions with the drugs, treated mosquito nets, primary care training, personnel and other requisites to wage war on malaria.
A war, by the way, which was won in Europe and the western world several generations ago.
Parents of sick children need access to treatments locally so this is a problem for those living in remote rural locations. They are unlikely to be able to travel many miles, often on foot, to a clinic.
Distribution programmes must be established that allow clinics to reach out to even the remotest of communities to deliver the life-saving materials. Staff at those clinics must also be trained in the timely diagnosis and treatment of malaria and its prevention.
But none of this is what you might call rocket science. It is well within the capacity of the international community to mount such a campaign but it seems the political will is not there.
Plan International and many other NGOs run anti-malarial campaigns alongside their other humanitarian programmes but not until the world community acts on the solemn pledges it made at the beginning of the millennium will the scourge of malaria finally be defeated.
• David Dalton is chief executive of Plan Ireland which is part of Plan International, a child-centred development charity working in 49 different countries.