Economic impact of malaria in Africa

The steady increase in malaria is attributed to population migration, growing mosquito resistance to anti- malarial drugs, limited resources for malaria treatment and control, and irrigation and other development activities that create mosquito breeding sites. This study examines the economic impact of malaria in Africa, focusing on both the direct costs (i.e., treatment and control programs) and indirect costs (i.e., the value of lost income due to morbidity and premature mortality). Four African nations are highlighted: Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Congo. The report estimates that malaria costs in sub-Saharan Africa are about $800 million per year today and will rise to over $1.8 billion by 1995. Loss of output will increase from 2.1 days per person to about 4.1 days. The report claims that effective malaria control measures would have a substantial payoff. Simply averting the growth in malaria costs would save 0.5% of GDP, since the current burden of 0.6% of GDP is expected to rise to 1.1% by 1995. The report recommends further economic research, along with operations research to evaluate the costs and effectiveness of various malaria control measures, including laboratory services, improved supervision, community pharmacies, and health worker training.