Guest Post: Postcards from Mali

Malaria causes more deaths in sub-Saharan Africa than car accidents, cancer, AIDS or war, even though the disease can be easily cured with an inexpensive pill. I find that fact incredibly disturbing, so I’ve traveled to Africa multiple times to write about this problem. But honestly, I mainly go to Africa because I like it. […]

Guest Post: Two Malarias

A few weeks ago I read the November 2011 newsletter of Roll Back Malaria – a partnership sponsored by the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the World Bank. It contained the following headline: “Nearly a third of all malaria affected countries on course for elimination over the next decade.” I’m not saying the […]

Our Ancient Lethal Traveling Companion

Seldom has something so tiny and so unprepossessing exacted such an immense toll of human misery. Plasmodium falciparum,  the protozoa that causes the most serious form of malaria,  looks like a little red comma or pear-shaped stain on the surface of a red blood cell.  Yet make no mistake, this tiny protozoa is a deft […]