Long Drought Spurs Increase In Vietnam's Malaria Deaths
Agence France-Presse

Hanoi - The number of malaria deaths in Vietnam rose by 6.9 
percent in the first half of the year after prolonged drought 
contributed to rampant breeding of mosquitoes, a scientist 
said Tuesday.

The number of fatalities rose from 58 during the first 
six months of 1997, to 62 during the first half of this year, 
said Hoang Ngoc Thuy, a scientist at the Institute of 
Malariology, Entomology and Parasitology.

He also said the number of deaths for the entire year is 
likely to be greater than last year as malarial infections occur 
mainly in the second half of the year. In Vietnam, 152 people 
died in 1997 from malaria. 

Hoang Ngoc Thuy attributed the rise to prolonged drought 
that reduced the flow of streams and forced people to store 
open water providing ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes.

However, Vietnam has made enormous strides in reducing 
both infections and fatalities of malaria thanks to a locally 
produced herbal treatment, he said.

In 1992 more than 1.3 million people were infected and 
2,658 died, while total infections last year were just 445,200 
people.

The scientist attributed the 94 percent drop in deaths 
largely to the use of a locally developed herbal treatment 
called actemisinine, based on a tree called Thanh Hao Hao Vang 
found in northern Vietnam.

"Vietnam is the second country to use a local herb to 
treat this disease, which before 1991 was rampant," Hoang 
Ngoc Thuy said.

Malaria is caused by a parasite that is transmitted to 
humans by the bite of the female anopheles mosquito. The 
disease can cause fevers, chills and profuse sweating and if 
untreated, in some cases leads to death. 

In Cambodia, the Ministry of Health recorded 
approximately 170,000 cases of malaria in 1997, a 60 percent 
increase from 1996. Health experts, however, believe the 
number is much higher because many Cambodians do not have 
access to medical facilities where statistics are recorded.