INTRODUCTION

Severe malaria is a leading cause of childhood mortality and morbidity especially in sub-Saharan Africa (1, 2,). In 2008, 247 million cases of malaria were estimated worldwide, resulting in 881 000 deaths (1). The financial cost to tackle malaria is staggering. It was estimated that expenditure to tackle malaria globally in 2009 and 2010 are USD 5.335 billion and 6.180 billion, respectively, and include direct costs for diagnosis, treatment and prevention (1). Malaria is caused by Plasmodium species. Only four namely P falciparum, P ovale, P vivax and P malariae among the 100 known Plasmodia species infect man.