‘Malaria is the epidemic of the poor.’

‘Malaria is the epidemic of the poor’.

Lewis 9C2

The statement ‘malaria is the epidemic of the poor’ indicates malaria and poverty are very closely related, and that malaria leads to poverty and poverty leads to the malaria disease. malaria is often referred to as the epidemic of the poor. Whilst the disease is heavily determined by climate and ecology, and not poverty per se, the impact of malaria takes its toll on the poorest, those least able to afford preventative and medical treatment. According to UN economists, malaria is one of the four causes of poverty. Each year it kills approximately three million people, and it is estimated to cost Africa 30 billion dollars per year. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, author of ‘End of

Poverty’ says ending malaria is the most important factor into lifting Africa out of extreme poverty. An example of the connection between malaria and poverty is the sale of bad drugs to poor people. According to WHO estimates, 20% of the people who die from malaria, die because they took bad drugs. Poor people may not afford proper anti-malaria medication unless the medication is subsidised. This evidence shows that poverty is hard to get rid of when malaria exists.

The indirect costs of malaria include the loss of productivity or income associated with the illness or death. This might be expressed as the cost of lost days of work from formal employment and the value of unpaid work done in the home by both men and women. In the case of death, the indirect cost includes the discounted future earnings of those who die. The direct costs include a combination of both prevention and treatment of the disease. Private expenditures include individual or family spending on insecticide treated mosquito nets, doctors’ fees, anti-malarial drugs, transport to health facilities, support for the patient and sometimes an accompanying family member during hospital visits. Public expenditures include spending by the government on maintaining health facilities and healthcare infrastructure, publicly managed vector control, education and research. In some countries with a heavy malaria burden, the disease may account for as much as 40% of public health expenditure, 30%- 50% of inpatient admissions and up to 50% of outpatient visits.

In conclusion, I believe that malaria is a disease of the poor and Africa cannot escape poverty when malaria exists. Therefore, African leaders should aspire to eliminate malaria. Such an achievement would save millions of lives and eradicate the vicious cycle of poverty and disease that continues to grip the continent. This would also save 30 billion dollars per year that are loses in productivity and medical costs.