World Malaria Day

One hundred years after malaria was the scourge of the armies fighting in the Balkans during the First World War, the disease continues to be a major issue around the world.

Although the number of cases has fallen since 2010, nearly half the world’s population is at risk from the disease and nearly half of those at risk in sub-Saharan Africa are unprotected. Today is World Malaria Day and you can find out more about the disease and efforts to eradicate it on the World Health Organization website.

To find out more about malaria and other diseases in the Macedonian campaign, this excellent book – which is available online – is thoroughly recommended:

History of the Great War (Based on Official Documents): Medical Services. General History – Volume IV: Medical Services during the Operations on the Gallipoli peninsula; in Macedonia; in Mesopotamia and North-West Persia; in East Africa; in the Aden Protectorate, and in North Russia. Ambulance Transport During the War.

 By Major-General Sir W. G. MACPHERSON, K.C.M.G., C.B., LL.D.. and Major T. J. MITCHELL, D.S.O., Royal Army Medical Corps.

Published in 1924 by HMSO, London.

Troops of a British labour battalion digging a drainage channel through the Daubratali Marshes to help destroy the area as a breeding ground of malaria carrying mosquitoes. THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE MACEDONIAN CAMPAIGN, 1915-1918. © IWM (Q 79036)