Today is World Health Day, and the World Health Organization is focusing on vector-borne diseases, such as malaria, dengue, yellow fever and Lyme disease, which kill more than 1 million people each year.
Malaria infection during pregnancy is a significant public health problem with substantial risks for the pregnant woman, her fetus, and the newborn child. Malaria-associated maternal illness and low birth weight is mostly the result of Plasmodium falciparum infection and occurs predominantly in Africa. To learn more about the science and the programming associated with prevention and control of malaria in pregnancy, see the Malaria in Pregnancy (Updated) GHeL course.