Malaria is just one cause of raised core body temperature - a fever - that causes dehydration
Fevers have many causes and can be brief or will continue until the cause is identified and treated directly. The broad range of causes for fevers mean self-diagnosis is very risky, and probably inaccurate. For a low income household, the concern at Hope Clinic is that the family's limited cash for healthcare is spent on a drug that they are guessing will treat the cause of the fever and therefore have no funds to treat the symptoms of the fever. Whatever the reason for raised core body temperature, sweating and possibly vomiting and diarrhoea reduces fluids in the patient leading to mild or sever dehydration. That can kill in a very short space of time.

Our guidance to guardians at child immunisation sessions and to new parents is to promptly manage the symptoms of fever, rehyrdate with clean water or ORS, and get accurate diagnosis before paying for drugs. Whether the fever and vomiting was caused by malaria parasites, bacteria in spoilt food or viral infection, the symptoms can kill. The WHO, in 2002, noted that 11% of all deaths in Uganda were from malarai, but a further 8% were due to diarrhoea. Among causes of death in under-5s in Uganda: 17% diarrhoea, 23% malaria and, 21% pneumonia (WHO Fact Sheet)

Accurate diagnosis of the fever's cause	Fevers can end a pregnancy	Omusujja (fever) gwe nsiri (from mosquito?) - Diagnose First

The Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria is supporting Uganda with Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) for Malaria and also pre-packaged ACT drugs, branded as Coartem, for the treatment of confirmed Malaria. A member of the community can therefore receive cheaper, higher quality care at Hope Clinic Lukuli through laboratory testing (or RDTs) and Coartem than at a private, for profit drug shop which has no equipment for accurate diagnosis. The better shops refer febrile patients to us, and if not malaria, we send them back to the shop for syrups to manage the fever or with a prescription for drugs to manage the parasites or bacterial infection - the shops gets the sale.