Gueckedou, Guinea, Rabi'I 06, 1436, December 28, 2014, SPA -- West Africa's fight to contain Ebola has hampered the campaign against malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that is claiming many thousands more lives than the dreaded virus. In Gueckedou, near the village where Ebola first started killing people a year ago, doctors have had to stop pricking fingers to do blood tests for malaria. Bernard Nahlen, deputy director of the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative, said Guinea's 40 percent drop in reported malaria cases this year is likely because people are too scared to go to health facilities and are not getting treated for malaria. Nets for Life Africa, a New York-based charity that provides insecticide-treated mosquito nets, said some 15,000 Guineans died from malaria last year. In comparison, about 1,600 people in Guinea have died from Ebola. -- SPA 23:09 LOCAL TIME 20:09 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w