of health priorities...

Image from Google search

Researchers have made a breakthrough discovery in the fight against malaria. However in the light of differing media priority, especially in this region, I don't think it'll be given much publicity compared to the potential H5N1 (avian flu) outbreak or even the lingering aftermath of SARS. All of which got me thinking about the priorities we put in healthcare.

Let's do the figures here:

Malaria
No. of people infected annually - est. 350 to 500 million
No. of deaths annually - est. 1 million

H5N1
No. of people infected so far - est. 120
No. of deaths so far - over 60

Maybe malaria may sound too dramatic to you. Ok, let's talk about something basic that we all take for granted. The lack of access to safe drinking water & diarrheal diseases resulting from drinking contaminated water.

No. of children dying from diarrhea annually - est. 470 million
No. of people without access to potable water - est. 1.1 billion

It seems almost unheard of, in my society, for people to die from diarrhea but it happens to a child every 15 seconds.

Potable water. It's something which 1 in 5 people on earth can only dream of and it's something we can do a part in, no matter how big or small.

Technorati tags: medical, potable water, malaria, fungi