Drogba scores a victory over malaria

The Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has spent years, not to mention millions of pounds fighting disease and poverty in Africa. Building is about to start   on a £3m hospital in Abidjan , the Ivory Coast City where he was born. It will be funded by the footballer's own donations and fundraising.

Malaria is a disease familiar to patients and doctors in Ivory Coast, where it kills more children than any other disease; of the 128,000 children aged under five who die each year, 63,000 of them are caused by malaria.  In Africa as a whole it is estimated that two children die from malaria every minute.

He is acutely aware of the deprivation suffered by many African children and the host of health problems arising from poverty.The foundation’s stated aim is to alleviate these difficulties by giving people “basic healthcare and education”.

As for the striker’s own illness, the details are less clear. Unlike Cheryl Cole, the singer who recently suffered an acute bout of malaria, Drogba appears to have had more muted symptoms.

Malaria should always be treated with respect, however mild the illness seems.  The biggest threat is to the under- fives, of whom it kills almost one million a year, 90 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa. (Health Editor)

 The Independent, Wed 20 November 2010                                                                                          Submitted by Juliet Brittain (Elder, Lumen)