Notes

• Topic: Health: Disease prevention
• Definition: Malaria treatment refers to the percentage of children under age five who were ill with fever in the last two weeks and received any appropriate (locally defined) anti-malarial drugs.
• Source: UNICEF, State of the World's Children, Childinfo, and Demographic and Health Surveys.
• Statistical concept and methodology: Malaria is endemic to the poorest countries in the world, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Prompt and effective treatment of malaria is a critical element of malaria control. It is vital that sufferers, especially children under age 5, start treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, to prevent progression - often rapid - to severe malaria and death. Data on malaria are from national-level surveys, including Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys, and Malaria Indicator Surveys.