Architecture Against Disease
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Architecture Against Disease

Photo by:   nordicbim.net The Magoda Project
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Alejandro Ehrenberg By Alejandro Ehrenberg | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Tue, 03/31/2020 - 10:15

COVID-19 is just one of the many communicable diseases with which human beings coexist. Among the deadliest of them is malaria. The disease is transmitted by the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. WHO figures show there were 228 million malaria cases worldwide in 2018, 405,000 being fatal. Children under five years of age represented 67 percent of all malaria-related deaths. WHO’s Africa region accounted for 94 percent of deaths. It is worth keeping in mind that malaria is a preventable and curable disease.

Housing improvements are important in the fight against malaria. In an article published in Malaria Journal, researchers analyzed the relationship between malaria cases in traditionally-built houses and those in modern houses. The study focused on Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America and concluded that houses built with mud, bamboo or stones were associated with a higher contagion rate. The hypothesis that modern houses with ceilings and screened doors and windows potentially reduce malaria transmission was reinforced. Co-author Steve Lindsay noted: “We recommend re-engineered modern housing as a possibly crucial tool for tackling malaria.”        

An actual intervention that supports Lindsay’s recommendation was led by ARCHIVE Global, an international non-profit organization that focuses on the link between health and housing. World Habitat describes the intervention as follows: “In 2012 ARCHIVE Global, Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria, National Malaria Control Program and the University of Yaounde worked together to mosquito-proof and improve 264 houses for over 1,300 residents of Yaounde, Cameroon. At the end of the project, the exposure to malaria-carrying mosquitoes had halved.”

Despite such encouraging experiences, Malaria Journal points out that “numerous questions remain unanswered, from the basic science relating to the optimal design of house improvements through to their translation into operational use.” An initiative that strives to answer such questions is the Magoda Project, a series of eight prototype houses located in Tanzania. The houses were designed in collaboration with the local community. Pawel A. Lange, in a piece for Nordic BIM, says “the prototypes are prime examples of innovative architecture used to enhance health and well-being in sub-Saharan Africa — a region highly prone to infectious diseases acquired in and around the home.” 

Photo by:   nordicbim.net The Magoda Project

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