Malaria Risk Index increases the ranking for Haiti

A worldwide assessment of malaria risk also contains a warning of increased risk for Haiti due to the recent earthquake.

The Malaria Risk Index issued by Maplecroft ranks the nations most at risk of malaria. Some of the criteria used include malaria deaths in each country, distribution of mosquito nets, as well as the ability to contain the spread of the disease.

The World Health Organization says there were 863,000 malaria deaths last year. 90 percent of those deaths were in Africa while the rest were in Southeast Asia or the Meditterainan.

From this AFP article hosted at Google News, writer Marlowe Hood talked to Maplecroft about the study.

"It is highly probable that the prevalence of malaria will increase in the wake of the disaster," said Fiona Place, a researcher at British risk analysis specialists Maplecroft and co-author of the Malaria Risk Index.

"Overcrowding in the camps for the displaced, inadequate shelter and sanitation, overburdened medical facilities, ruptured sewer systems -- all these factors provide favourable conditions for the breeding of malaria vectors," Place told AFP.

Improvised use of open-air catchments for rainwater also make it easy for the mosquitoes that carry the disease to multiply, she said.
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The Maplecroft Index ranks more than 100 countries most affected by malaria, based on 10 criteria including the number of cases, deaths of children under five, use of nets and distribution of drugs.

Capacity to contain an outbreak is also taken into account.

All but six of the 40 countries hit hardest are in Africa.

Those most in peril, in the "extreme" risk category, are Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Togo, Comoros and Chad.

Prior to the 7.0 Richter Scale earthquake Haiti ranked 34th, which put it in the "high" category of risk.

The largest non-African country at high risk is Pakistan, according to the study.