Malaria worst than SARS

THE EDITOR: We are inundated daily with news of “SARS,” not either a very contagious nor very lethal disease. So far it has cost 250 lives over the several weeks since its first outbreak. Daily, Malaria in Africa alone accounts for 3,000 lives. I repeat: daily! Tragically and lamentably most malaria victims are children five and under.

Let’s get things in perspective here...does the world’s news media ever focus on the scourge and menace of Malaria (it costs African Nations $12 billion in lost productivity)? Are SARS and AIDS more “newsworthy”? Amazingly the very best protection against malaria is an insecticide-treated mosquito net and the majority of African Governments, despite pleas to remove taxes and customs duties from this item, adamantly refuse to do so! Is this outrageous or what? Maybe, just maybe, this fact alone is actually, in fact, far more newsworthy than the fashionable, “in mode” SARS and AIDS.

GEOFF HUDSON
Port-of-Spain