Good for Agriculture, Bad for Public Health

09/30/2013

A young girl with malaria in Malualkon, in the South Sudanese state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal.

Hello, and welcome to As It Is -- VOA’s daily show for people learning everyday American English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today we have two reports on the disease malaria. We heard about a study that found a link between malaria and irrigation water.

“What happens is that then when you irrigate, there is more, in a sense, more breeding habitats for the mosquito.”

We explain why what is good for crops might be increasing the risk of malaria in some very dry areas.

Today, we also learn why many pregnant women are not being protected from the disease…

“…because they are very powerful interventions that could go a long way to reducing the burden of malaria and improving the outcomes, both in pregnant women and, and their infants.”

That story is next. But first, we tell how irrigation water may be partly to blame for a rise in malaria infections…

Irrigation in Dry Areas Can Increase Malaria Risk

A new study describes how irrigation water can lead to an increase in malaria cases that could last for 10 years or more. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. The insects like to reproduce in standing water. So when a dry area is irrigated, the disease can appear and spread.