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Article: Fatal inaction: there is a silver bullet for Africa's malaria epidemic. Why the Bush administration won't pull the trigger.
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- July 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Ndirande, Malawi, is one of the poorest neighorhoods in one of the poorest nations in the world. At a local health clinic, anxious mothers in brightly colored body wraps and head scarves shove their children's health records at the admissions counter. Inside, another 80 women wait for blood tests in a hot, tiny, windowless room, their babies suckling weakly at their breasts. Several babies lie unconscious or shaking on the ground. Others are so thin that their skeletal structures are plainly visible.
Twenty-three year-old Margaret cradles her 11-month-old son in her arms. When he contracted malaria last week, she gave him Fansidar, a commonly prescribed ...