According to the Neem Association, an international nonprofit organisation, malaria affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and kills more than two million every year. Malaria is quite common in India and throughout the tropics.

Neem has been shown to be effective in a number of ways against this deadly disease.  Both water and alcohol based neem leaf extracts have been confirmed as effective.  It has been shown to block the development of the gamete in an infected person.

Neem leaf extract greatly increases the state of oxidationin red blood cells, which prevents normal development of the malaria virus.  Irodin A, an active ingredient in the leaves, is toxic to resistant strains of malaris; 100 percent of the malaria gamete are dead within seventy-two hours with a 1 to 20,000 ratio of active ingredients.  Other experiments have used alcoholic extracts of neem leaf, which performed almost as well.

Gedunin and quercetin, compounds found in the leaves, are also effective against malaria.  Several studies show that neem extracts are effective even against the more virulent strains of the malaria parasite.  Some scientists believe that stimulation of the immune system is a major factor in neem’s effectiveness against malaria.  The plant also lowers the fever and increases one’s appetite, enabling a stronger body to fight the parasite and recover more quickly.

Even though neem may be effective against the parasites that carry malaria, it has not been shown to prevent the malaria infection once it’s in the body.