Yes. Records show that each year the incidence of malaria in the world is in the order of 300 to 500 million clinical cases and it causes almost 3 million deaths. Large numbers of deaths occur among young children, especially the ones in rural areas with poor access to health services. Pregnant women, non- travellers, refugees or people entering into disease spreading areas are also vulnerable to malaria.

No. Malaria has been eradicated from many developed countries but it remains a major health problem in many developing countries, in tropical and subtropical parts of the world.

There is currently no malaria approved. This is mainly due to that the malaria parasites has a complicated life cycle and its antigens are changing quickly. Thus it is difficult to develop a vaccine against the varying antigens. Furthermore, the mechanism that human immune system used against malaria is not understood. The search of a vaccine is now considered to be one of the most important research projects in public health.

Yes, but very rare. It may cause stomach upset, itching.

No. Malaria is curable and can be treated if the right drugs are used. All the parasites can be eliminated from the body. However, malaria can persist if patients are untreated or treated with wrong drug as some parasites may have resistance to the drugs.