Mali Health Events Areas

The Malian population continues to be subject to obtrusive illness and high mortality rates due to a variety of often preventable diseases. Structural flaws in the country’s health infrastructure, including a menial medical staff, absence of funding for supplies and facilities, and the inaccessibility to existing services, pose challenges to the current healthcare system. Further, populations suffering from malnutrition, inaccessibility to clean drinking water, and inadequate sanitation increase the spread of illness. Prominent diseases within Mali include malaria, cholera, measles, HIV, meningitis, and a variety of fevers. 178 of every thousand children born in Mali die before reaching the age of five years old. Half of all deaths in Mali are due to either malnutrition or malaria. In 2010, the Malian population was hit with an outbreak of malaria affecting over 2.1 million people throughout the country. In that year alone the adult population lost over 3,000 people, with an additional 3,100 deaths from the under-five population. In the southern regions of Mali, peak malaria season is from June to November, while the northern regions peak from July to October. The areas of Mali that have above-average malaria transmission rates are the Niger River Delta, areas around dams, and areas of rice cultivation. Cholera outbreaks have repeatedly displaced significant populations from their homes to the southern regions of Mali. Health events in Mali revolve around climatic patterns as well as socio-cultural elements. Rural and nomadic inhabitants are far more subject to infectious diseases, although even urban areas experience higher incidence levels of infectious disease than most countries. Mali has one of the lowest rates of immunization for childhood diseases in the world.