Design And Development Of The African Plasmodium Falciparum Database – (Afripfdb)

 Abstract

Malaria is one of the planet's deadliest diseases and one of the leading causes of sickness and death in the developing world. Africa has suffered and is still suffering from the adverse socio-economic effects of malaria; It is intimately connected with poverty. Judged as both a root cause and a consequence of poverty, it is most intractable for the poorest countries in the world. According to GSK’s (GlaxoSmithKline) Corporate Responsibility Report 2007, it affects the health and economic growth of nations and individuals alike and is costing Africa about $12 billion a year in economic output. It has a greater impact on Africa's human resources than simple lost earnings. Another indirect cost of malaria is the human pain and suffering caused by the disease. It also hampers children's schooling and social development through both absenteeism and permanent neurological and other damage associated with severe episodes of the disease (© 2008 Millennium Promise). According to WHO’s (World Health Organization) World Malaria Report 2008, there were an estimated 247 million malaria cases worldwide in 2006, of which 91% or 230 million were due to Plasmodium falciparum. The vast majority of cases (86%) were in the African Region, followed by the South-East Asia (9%) and Eastern Mediterranean regions