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A new study has found links between deforestation driving malaria risk among vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa. The loss of forest cover not only disrupts ecosystems but also contributes to the spread of malaria, particularly among vulnerable children, according to a new study conducted at the University of Vermont, United States.
Deforestation disrupts local climate patterns, creating ideal breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitos. As a result, children who live in deforested areas are more likely to get the disease. The study emphasised the link between environmental degradation and public health, especially in economically disadvantaged communities.
Children living in deforested areas, especially those in economically disadvantaged households, face an elevated susceptibility to malaria. These communities have limited access to preventive measures such as bed nets, clean water, or early medical treatment, increasing their susceptibility, the paper said.
The study was published in the journal GeoHealth on February 28, 2024.
The researchers analysed demographic and health survey data from over 11,746 children under the age of five to see how wealth, temperature, and deforestation affected infection rates.
The study obtained temporal scale remote sensing data for the forest cover dominated by tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome for 1992-1993 and from vegetation/forest continuous fields for 2010-2011.
The researchers examined these interrelationships in six malaria-endemic countries of sub-Saharan African: Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Mozambique, Rwanda and Togo. These countries span three regions — central and eastern Africa, southern Africa and west Africa.
These countries are located in ecological regions dominated by tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, all of which have seen significant deforestation in recent decades.
Average deforestation between 1992-1993 and 2010-2011 was 19.7 per cent, with Mozambique experiencing the highest (50 per cent) and Togo the least (2.3 per cent).
The study discovered that the relationship between deforestation and malaria prevalence varies by wealth level, and that increased temperatures are strongly associated with malaria prevalence across regions. Deforestation increases malaria prevalence in the poorest households, but not in the richest households, researchers found.
The study read:
It can help identify populations at risk and design well-targeted environmental interventions to control important vector species and help achieve better health outcomes at a landscape level. More generally, our results reinforce the fact that social, ecological, and health systems are tightly interconnected, such that efforts to reduce deforestation can improve human health and well-being in malaria endemic tropical regions, including Africa.
In most sub-Saharan African countries, deforestation is primarily driven by the steady expansion of rainfed and irrigated smallholder agriculture, while small-scale mining and logging may exacerbate childhood malaria.
Malaria was more common in the poorest (40.4 per cent) and poorer (36.7 per cent) quintiles, but least common in the richest (36.7 per cent), the research found.
The study also discovered that deforestation was higher in clusters containing the poorest and poorer households (20.5 per cent and 24.9 per cent, respectively) than in clusters containing the richest households (6.8 per cent).
In 2022, the WHO African Region accounted for about 93.6 per cent of malaria cases and 95.4 per cent of deaths globally, 78.1 per cent of all deaths in this region were among children aged under five years old in 2022.