The contribution of malaria to morbidity and mortality among people in Africa has been a subject of academic interest, political advocacy, and speculation. National statistics for much of sub-Saharan Africa have proved to be an unreliable source of disease-specific morbidity and mortality data. Credible estimates of disease-specific burdens are required for setting global and national priorities for health in order to rationalize the use of limited resources and lobby for financial support. We have taken an empirical approach to defining the limits of Plasmodium falciparum transmission across the continent and interpolated the distributions of projected populations in 1995. By combining a review of the literature on malaria in Africa and models of acquired functional immunity, we have estimated the age-structured rates of the fatal, morbid and disabling sequelae following exposure to malaria infection under different epidemiological conditions.
PIP: This research seeks to estimate mortality, morbidity, and disability due to malaria among Africa's nonpregnant population. It uses an empirical approach to define Plasmodium falciparum transmission limits across the continent. And, the distributions of projected populations in 1995 are interjected. The review of literature on malaria in Africa and models of acquired functional immunity served as a basis for the researchers to predict the age-structured rates of the fatal, morbid and disabling consequences following malaria infection. These estimates were tabulated and analyzed. The results indicated that among populations exposed to stable endemic malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 987,466 people might have died in 1995 due to malaria infection. On the other hand, over 207.5 million clinical attacks of malaria may have occurred.