Also at high risk are pregnant women, non-immune travellers, refugees, displaced persons, and workers entering endemic areas. If promptly diagnosed and adequately treated, however, malaria is curable. Ninety per cent of the global malaria cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Two-thirds of the remaining cases occur in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Increasing numbers of imported cases are occurring in Europe and North America.
Malaria thrives in warm, humid climates, particularly where health care systems are weak.
Malaria victims occupy as many as one out of ten hospital beds worldwide. The disease exacts an enormous toll, not only in lives, but in medical costs, days of labour lost, and economic output, and it undermines the growth and development of millions of children. According to Unicef, malaria contributes to severe anaemia in children, is a leading cause of low birth weight among infants, is a most common cause of school absenteeism, causes severe anaemia, miscarriages, and still births among pregnant women and contributes to high rates of maternal deaths. Economic loss from malaria was estimated to be R12 billion in 1997 in Africa south of the Sahara. Thousands of children's lives can be saved by simply using mosquito nets, but giving these nets to people in malaria-prone areas is not always easy.