ABSTRACT

Malaria is unique among diseases because its roots lie so deep within human communities. Malaria remains one of the worst menaces of tropical countries of the world. It is a killer and debilitating disease that affects the physical and economic well being of people living in endemic areas of Africa (WHO, 2000). The high intensity of the spread of malaria, makes it an enormous and leading public health problem especially in sub-Saharan Africa. African countries are most hard hit by the disease, where it ravages communities (TDR/WHO, 2002). Malaria is a potentially fatal tropical disease caused by the parasite- Plasmodium and spread through the bite of an infected female Anoplieles mosquito. The resulting disease in humans can be devastating and has-been and is still a cause of much human morbidity and mortality (WHO, 2003). Although the disease has been eradicated in most temperate zones, it continues to be endemic throughout most of the tropics and sub-tropics. Malaria is a threat to more than 40% of the world's population. Out of the more than 300 miUlon acute cases that occur each year, between 1.1 and 2.7 million people die each year (RBM, 2002; WHO, 2000). Malaria a notiflable, preventable and curable disease is highly endemic in most parts of Nigeria, and is the most common cause of out-patient hospital attendance in all age-groups in all parts of Nigeria (Ogunbona et al., 1990). The vast majority of malaria cases (900h) are in sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria constitutes 10% of 2 the total disease burder. Children under five years of age and pregnant women are most at risk, with Plasmodium falcioarum being the main cause of severe clinical malaria and death (TDR/WHO, 2002; RBM/WHO, 2000). Malaria constitutes nearly 25% of all childhood mortality in Africa (WHO, 2000). According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), malaria's cost to human and social welI-being is enormous. It is a major cause of poverty and poverty exacerbates the malaria situation (UNICEF, 2001). The economic loss is so