Usman Chamdia's and his four children have malaria symptoms. So far, three tests have come back positive. By the end of the morning, tests will determine that all five family members are infected. Chamdia brought four of his six children to the Merlin mobile health clinic, held in a defunct school building in the small village of Basti Allah Wali. The community is located near the banks of the Indus River and has been hard-hit by floods and the malaria season. Jacqueline Koch / Merlin

Karachi, April 30 (The News International) – Over 4.7 million malaria cases reported in Pakistan in 2010, compared to just 125,000 in 2009. Of the total 4.7 million, only 50,000 were reported from the flood-affected areas of the country. “These figures show the severity of the situation with regards to the mosquito-born disease that has a higher mortality rate than dengue fever due to weak management,” said World Health Organization (WHO) official Qutubuddin Kakar at a discussion on Malaria at a local hotel on Friday. Experts from the Malaria Control Program, pharmaceutical industry, international health agencies as well as health department officials attended the discussion and stressed upon the need for creating awareness on the disease that in the past wiped our entire civilizations in the past and still poses a threat to the human race. They said the growing number of malaria cases in Pakistan is turning out to be a serious concern as the country is classified in the 3rd category of EMR, which is contributing to 95 percent of the total burden in the world of the Anopheles-mosquito born disease. The experts added that the alarming situation has yet to catch the attention of the relevant health officials. …

Malaria still rampant in the country