Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the parasite called Plasmodia. There are four identified species of this parasite causing human malaria, namely, Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale and P. malariae. It is transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito. 


It is a disease that can be treated in just 48 hours, yet it can cause fatal complications if the diagnosis and treatment are delayed. It is re-emerging as the number one Infectious killer and it is the Number 1 Priority Tropical Disease of the World Health Organization. 


Malaria affects more than 2400 million people, over 40% of the world's population, in more than 100 countries in the tropics from South America to the Indian peninsula. The tropics provide ideal breeding and living conditions for the anopheles mosquito.


Every year 300 to 500 million people suffer from this disease (90% of them in sub-Saharan Africa, two thirds of the remaining cases occur in six countries- India, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Colombia and Solomon Islands).


WHO forecasts a 16% growth in malaria cases annually