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Stephen Mpofu
A SIGNATURE tune of the presence of these tiny giant-killer terrorists in any household causes human blood to curdle, with open windows being slammed shut and people burying their heads under blankets and any other protective cover.

Yet, ironically, you (yes, you) can crush the giant killer between your fingers.

That is how in reality the mosquito reigns terror among human beings, small though the creature looks in size compared with its impact on the human race.

We are dealing here with a case of attitude. That is what the story of the combat zone between the mosquito and the human being is like.

It is the story of attitude which makes a lion, the king of the jungle, send even the elephant — who by its size and weight is supposed to be king of the jungle — trembling and running away for dear life at the sight of the king, ironically much smaller in size and much, much lighter in weight.

Yet when a lion looks at an elephant all that occupies its mind is “lunch” — the same attitude that makes a head of jumbos flee from a combat zone on realising that they are a potential meal for the predator.

[The same attitudinal story applies in the case of the eagle as king of the bird world small though it is when compared with other birds, the ostrich, for instance.]

The matter in point here, which actually concerns Zimbabweans and millions of other people around the globe, is that the tiny winged terrorists reportedly are once more on a vengeance, causing a resurgence in malaria around the globe and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and other developed states, putting the lives of millions of children under five years of age on death row with pregnant women the other victims of malaria.

This is the trending story by the world press following a recent meeting of Commonwealth leaders in London where it was noted that millions of dollars were being spent in fighting malaria in Africa, for instance, when the huge sums would have gone a long way were it spent on economic and social development.

The press reports talk of an urgent need to increase global funding for an anti-malarial campaign to save children, millions of whom have perished in the past under the onslaught of the anopheles, the female mosquito which spreads malaria and has tended to resist measures to protect people from its fatal bites.

Some press reports suggest that American billionaire Mr Bill Gates, who has previously donated part of his fortune in support of the campaign against malaria, has pledged further funding to help combat the malaria menace and indicated that he will chip in with additional funding to try to save lives from the malaria menace in embattled countries across the globe.

That humanitarian gesture should be seen as a challenge to other wealthier individuals and organisations to jump into fray against malaria with international organisations weighing in with other measures to save lives.

In the latter case, it behoves on the African Union and its affiliate regional organisations to take such measures as will cover children from malarial fatalities.

Closer to home, for instance, one expects the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to move in speedily and stabilise the ever conflagrating political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo where violence has sent millions of people, among them children, fleeing for their safety to neighbouring countries that include Zambia and Angola.

Obviously Sadc leaders must consider guaranteeing peace and stability as one of their major roles so that people are not needlessly uprooted and exposed to diseases such as malaria among other causes of loss of lives.

East African countries might also wish to take such decisive actions as will end the continuing political strife in South Sudan where millions of people including children have fled their homes with children deprived of schooling to live in the bush or in camps at home as well as in neighbouring countries where they are exposed to various diseases, malaria among them.

The same story can be said about the effects of political violence which has displaced thousands if not millions of people in West Africa as well as in the Central African Republic.

Official comments were not immediately available from authorities in Harare but reports on the ground suggested that the World Health Organisation office in the capital and the Ministry of Health and Child Care regularly coordinate efforts on combating malaria with the government encouraging residents to use medically impregnated mosquito nets at night as well as destroying mosquito breeding places among other protective measures to safeguard lives.

In the wake of the reported resurgence of malaria, it is to be hoped that educational campaigns against the fatal malaria will be intensified, particularly in rural areas where poverty-stricken villagers may not have adequate resources to protect their families, with schools and health centres doing their utmost in preaching the gospel against the killer disease.

Residential associations are also duty bound to impart various methods of combating malaria to members as their contribution to the wider campaign against the small, winged monsters.

On the other side, there appears much to be learnt by humanity from the attitude of both the mosquito and the lion.

Which is that with unflinching intrepidity people can face any challenge confronting them, however gargantuan it might seem at first, if driven by the meal or lunch bold attitude of the lion and the mosquito since, moreover, “there is a silver lining behind (any) dark cloud”, so goes the saying.