Study finds malaria control in young children saves lives into adulthood

LATEST study findings on Malaria unveiled on Thursday in the country indicate that children who sleep under bed nets in initial ages are more likely to survive into adulthood.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine focused on more than 6,700 children in 1998, and later tracked again in 2019 to find out what happened to them.

The results showed that survival of children who habitually slept under nets was over 40 per cent higher in survival in comparison to those who slept under them less frequently in their early ages.

The 22-year study in Tanzania was led by researchers from Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) highlighted new insights into the long term health benefits of using bed nets to prevent Malaria.

Principal Scientist at IHI and study author, Dr. Salim Abdulla, said: "We have known for a long time that bed nets save young lives, but we never knew for sure how long the benefits persisted. Our study shows that preventing malaria in early childhood has effects, which last into adulthood." He explained that, between 1998 and 2003, the study enrolled 6,706 children born in Kilombero and Ulanga districts, a part of rural Tanzania where malaria is endemic.

Dr. Abdulla added that up to 2003, the survey team visited the children's households every four months to collect information about the use of insecticide-treated bed nets. He said in 2019, 16 years later, the study team did a follow-up survey and was able to gather information relating to 89 per cent (5,983) of the original participants, where the team learnt that over 600 of the children had died.

"When the researchers analysed the data from the study they discovered a positive long-term impact of bed nets," he said. They estimated the association between bed net use and survival, using regression modelling to adjust for other differences between the groups. Dr. Gũnther Fink, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Household Economics at the University of Basel and Swiss TPH, and first author, said: "It's so important to be able to go back and find out what happens to children when they grow up." He added: "Bed nets have been a huge part of malaria control efforts, and continue to be part of the toolkit; it is reassuring to see these long-term benefits, which further highlight the remarkably high returns to investing into early childhood infectious disease prevention and early life health more generally."

Dr. Joanna Schellenberg, Professor of Epidemiology and International Health at LSHTM and last author on the paper, said: "It's remarkable that we were able to find information on nearly all these children born two decades ago. While our study shows the survival benefit of early-life malaria control persists until adulthood, it also reveals the potential of long-term community-based research. It's a testament to the deep social connections the interviewers had in the study communities, as well as making the most of mobile phone coverage," Dr. Schellenberg noted.

Co-author Mr. Sigilbert Mrema, Research Scientist with IHI, added: "One of our respondents was overjoyed simply to be told his exact date of birth. This type of long-term study is important not only in monitoring health but also in strengthening civil registration."

According to the Ministry of Health, Tanzania has reduced the number of deaths related to Malaria by 60 per cent. The situation has been due to a number of measures taken by the government to fight the deadly disease, including controlling mosquitoes such as through spraying bio-larvicides, and distribution of free treated mosquito nets.

In 2019, the government distributed 6,936,202 mosquito nets to special groups, According to the ministry, the country managed to reduce malaria deaths from 6,311 in 2015 to 2,400 in 2020 while the infection rate has dropped by more than 50 per cent from 14.8 per cent in 2015 to 7.5 per cent in 2017.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Malaria deaths stood at 627,000 in 2020 globally. It said African region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden.

In 2020, the region was home to 95 per cent of malaria cases and 96 per cent of malaria deaths with children under five accounting for an estimated 80 per cent of all malaria deaths in the region.