Fever-fighters wanted!
Malaria has killed more people than all the diseases and wars in the world combined. One child per minute still dies of the fever in sub-Saharan Africa. The intiative "Fight the Fever" around director Katahrina Weingartner wants to change that! The goal is a travelling cinema tour with Weingartner's documentary "The Fever: The Fight Against Malaria" followed by Artemisia workshops in Uganda. Would you like to support? Then take a look here: startnext. Find out why the medicinal plant Artemisia annua (annual mugwort) may be able to save countless lives in the documentary "The Fever". For World Malaria Day from 25 April 2021 in W-film Online-Kino and soon also in the cinema.
Rousing documentary "The Fever: The Fight Against Malaria"
As a result of the lockdown and the resulting deterioration in health care, the malaria parasite will kill an estimated one million people in Africa this year – twice as many as usual year after year! But what if a medicinal plant could soothe mankind's oldest parasite? An affordable medicine that anyone can grow in their own garden. In the crisis region of East Africa, the alternative practitioner Rehema Namyalo, the biologist Richard Mukabana and the pharmacologist Patrick Ogwang are relying on Artemisia annua (annual mugwort): its isolated active ingredient artemisinin has long been successfully used by the global pharmaceutical industry in expensive malaria preparations. But in their search for local, cheap solutions, the researchers encounter fierce resistance from the pharmaceutical companies and great scepticism from their own governments. Not even the WHO wants to support their efforts. Is this really still about development cooperation or about colonial subjugation and greed for profit?
"The Fever: The Fight Against Malaria" is startling: We, who are experiencing the horror of a pandemic for the first time, are reminded of those who have been struggling with a deadly disease for ages. The documentary rejects the same old view of African 'suffering' and accompanies protagonists who insist on self-determination. Their work with the medicinal plant Artemisia annua could perhaps save countless lives – from malaria and other pandemics.