Staff, students join hands outside LSTM to mark World Malaria Day

One hundred staff and students joined hands outside Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) today to mark World Malaria Day, each person symbolising 10,000 of the lives lost every year to malaria.

Professor Steve Ward, Deputy Director of LSTM, led the event and explained:

"Malaria kills one million people every year, more than any other parasitic infection.  Most deaths are in Africa and mostly in children under five years old.

"World Malaria Day is held every year to remind the global community that the disease is preventable and treatable but that much more needs to be done to stop children dying needlessly.  On average, one child dies every 30 seconds from malaria.

"LSTM has been researching ways to combat malaria for more than 100 years and that fight continues today with more than 50 projects active against malaria and malaria in pregnancy.  We're working with organisations in over 30 countries around the world to develop better and cheaper drugs to prevent and treat malaria and better ways of combating the mosquitoes which transmit the disease.

"World Malaria Day is being held this year on Sunday 25 April.