Ethiopia is a land-locked nation, and it is situated in the Horn of Africa. In 2013, the country had a populace of 94.1 million people. The life expectancy in the same year was 62.77 years while the GDP was $47.53 billion. The GDP and GNI per capita are $505.05 and $129.6 billion respectively by the year 2013 ("Ethiopia | Data," 2014). Malaria is a severe pandemic in Ethiopia whereby 75% of the country's land is prone to malaria while more than 54 million populates are at risk of contracting the disease.
The disease-causing parasites prevalent in this country are the plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax. They are responsible for 60% and 40% infections respectively (Alelign & Dejene, 2016). The prevalence of malaria in Ethiopia affects the economy in a negative way as it increases medical costs and leads to the death of productive personnel. Moreover, it raises high school absenteeism (Ayele, Zewotir, & Mwambi, 2012). The dominance of the disease in Ethiopia is estimated at 1.3%, and infections occur seasonally due to climate change.
In the recent years, Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in curbing the diseases through preventive and case management measures. In fact, the country is among the few sub-Saharan nations that have shown progress in controlling the ailment. Notably, the rate of malaria admission for children who are under five years was 81% in 200, and this figure dropped to 73% by 2011. The annual incidents of the disease reported nationally between 2005 and 2008 were 23.4 per 1000 persons (Jima et al., 2012). Despite the efforts by the government to reduce the infection of malaria, the disease is still prevalent, particularly during rainy seasons. The persistent level of malaria in Ethiopia is due to the extensive land, which is 2000m above sea level. Approximately, 54 million people reside on this land, which is suitable for agricultural activities due to its fertility. Since 2003, the country introduced health service extension program as part of primary health care.
References
Alelign, A. & Dejene, T. (2016). Current status of Malaria in Ethiopia: Evaluation of the burden, factors for transmission and prevention methods. Acta Parasitologica Globalis, 7(1), 01-06.
Ayele, D., Zewotir, T., & Mwambi, H. (2012). Prevalence and risk factors of malaria in Ethiopia. Malaria Journal, 11(1), 195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-195
Ethiopia | Data. (2014). Data.worldbank.org. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/country/ethiopia
Jima, D., Wondabeku, M., Alemu, A., Teferra, A., Awel, N., & Deressa, W. et al. (2012). Analysis of malaria surveillance data in Ethiopia: What can be learned from the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System?. Malaria Journal, 11(1), 330. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-11-330
