"The Fever" for World Malaria Day Online & in the Cinema
Covid-19 shut down the world, but we must not forget other infectious diseases! Malaria has killed more people south of the Sahara than all the diseases and wars on earth put together: One dead child per minute. But what if a medicinal plant could help against it? On 25 April, World Malaria Day, the documentary "The Fever: The Fight Against Malaria" will be launched as a stream in the W-film Online Cinema via the film website http://fever.wfilm.de. For a good cause: Closed cinemas that co-promote the online launch will be supported with a share of the revenue! As soon as the lockdown ends, the film will of course be shown in cinemas nationwide. Be there for the nationwide launch!
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 even 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 a wake-up call: 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.
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