The killing season
What can be done to crack down on the black-market trade in anti-malarial drugs in Uganda?
Malaria is a global problem. As many as half the world’s population is at risk of catching the mosquito-born disease; it infects more than 500 million people per year and kills more than one million.
Yet it has long been known that malaria can be prevented, with bed nets steeped in insecticide, or treated with drugs known as ACT’s which interrupt the life cycle of the mosquito born parasite.
So why then, despite all the apparent efforts of governments, NGOs, and public health experts to distribute nets and drugs, are so many people still dying?
That is a question of especial relevance to many Ugandans. Their country has one of the highest malaria mortality rates in the world, with around 120,000 people being killed every year, almost all of them needlessly.
Filmmaker Mark Honigsbaum went to Uganda looking for answers and uncovered a troubling story of corruption and neglect that may even undermine Africa’s, and the world’s best defense against the disease.
Killing season can be seen from Wednesday, May 26, 2010.