4.2
MALARIA
38
LISTENING
1
Which illnesses are the biggest killers in your
country, and in the world? Do you know what
scientists are doing to try to prevent these illnesses?
2
4.3
Listen to a talk by a volunteer helping in a
children's clinic in Africa. Which of these does she
mention?
• Diseases:
high blood pressure, asthma, polio,
diabetes, dengue fever, malaria
• People who pay for drugs:
insurance companies,
major hospitals, state health services
• International agencies:
the World Health
Organisation, the World Bank, the United Nations,
the European Union
3
a
Listen again and take notes.
3
b
Work with a partner. Take turns to summarise the
main points in thirty seconds.
4
Reacting to the topic
Work in small groups and
discuss the questions.
1
Who should pay for medicines in poor countries?
2
Which disease/diseases do you think deserves the
most research money spent on it? Why?
READING
5
Is malaria a problem in your country? What do you
know about malaria and ways of fighting it?
6
Scan the texts to find the following.
1
a university
2
a country where malaria used to be a problem
3
the names of two people who suffered from malaria
at some point in their lives
4
a chemical which was used to kill mosquitoes
5
the name of a scientist
6
a book about environmental problems caused by
chemicals
7
the date of Africa Malaria Day
8
someone who made a film about the dangers of
malaria
7
Read the texts again. Are these statements true,
false or not given?
1
It is not possible to recover from malaria.
2
Genetically modified mosquitoes could reduce the
number of mosquitoes that spread dengue fever.
3
Sufferers of malaria notice the symptoms within a
few days of being infected.
4
The number of deaths from malaria is rising.
5
The use of DDT has been banned worldwide.
6
The trials using malaria-blocking genes were
successful.
7
All female mosquitoes carry the malaria parasite.
8
Work with a partner to discuss these questions.
1
Which do you think are the three most interesting
facts about malaria, and why?
2
Are there any ethical issues around using genetically
modified technology?
• The word
malaria
comes from the Latin for ‘bad air’.
• Malaria is only transmitted by female mosquitoes.
• Symptoms of malaria include high fever, chills,
headaches and other flu-like symptoms.
• Malaria kills over 600,000 people a year, the vast
majority of them children.
• Pregnant women can pass the illness onto their unborn
children or give birth to underweight babies.
• Malaria exists in 103 countries worldwide but 90
percent of malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The USA finally became free of malaria in 1951.
• In 1943, Walt Disney made a cartoon film about the
dangers of malaria, which starred the seven dwarves
from the film Snow White.
• Eight US presidents including George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy have suffered
from malaria but all of them survived.
• The malaria parasite can lie dormant and an infected
person may not feel ill for up to four years.
• There is still no effective vaccine against malaria.
• Malaria mortality rates have fallen by more than 25
percent globally since 2000.
• The World Health Organisation estimates that 20% of
the deaths caused by malaria each year are the result of
fake medicines being used.
• Travellers from countries where there is no malaria
often have no immunity to the disease.
• Africa Malaria Day takes place on 25 April every year.
Malaria - Did you know...?
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For many years, the main
weapon in the fight against
malaria-carrying mosquitoes
was DDT, a powerful chemical
whose insecticidal properties
were discovered in 1939.
However, in 1962, the book Silent
Spring was published, which claimed
that DDT caused cancer and killed other wildlife, especially
birds.
Now scientists have found a new way to control
malaria. Researchers at the University of California have
created genetically modified mosquitoes that introduce
malaria-blocking genes into the mosquito population. In
experiments, they have found that 99.5% of the offspring
of their modified mosquitoes also carried the gene, a much
higher proportion than they were expecting.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t eradicate all problems.
Anthony James, a biologist at the University of California,
has pointed out that mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus
in South America also spread other diseases such as
chikungunya, dengue and yellow fever. To combat these
mosquitoes requires genetically modified mosquitoes that
prevent breeding completely. James isn’t worried about
this. These mosquitoes have come to South America from
Africa and so aren’t native to the area. Killing them will
simply restore nature to its natural state.
