Malaria We turn now to the world's third largest infectious killer, which has taken its greatest toll among children, especially African children, living in poverty. The Cost of Malaria Malaria's human toll is enormous. An estimated 250 million people suffer from malarial disease each year, and the disease annually kills between 1 million and million people, mostly pregnant women and children under the age of 5. The poor disproportionately suffer the consequences of malaria: 58% of malaria deaths occur in the poorest 20% of the world's population, and 90% are registered in sub-Saharan Africa. The differential magnitude of this mortality. | Chapter 002. Global Issues in Medicine Part 7 Malaria We turn now to the world s third largest infectious killer which has taken its greatest toll among children especially African children living in poverty. The Cost of Malaria Malaria s human toll is enormous. An estimated 250 million people suffer from malarial disease each year and the disease annually kills between 1 million and million people mostly pregnant women and children under the age of 5. The poor disproportionately suffer the consequences of malaria 58 of malaria deaths occur in the poorest 20 of the world s population and 90 are registered in sub-Saharan Africa. The differential magnitude of this mortality burden is greater than that associated with any other disease. Likewise the morbidity differential is greater for malaria than for diseases caused by other pathogens as documented in a study from Zambia that revealed a 40 greater prevalence of parasitemia among children under 5 in the poorest quintile than in the richest. Despite suffering the greatest consequences of malaria the poor are precisely those least able to access effective prevention and treatment tools. Economists describe the complex interactions between malaria and poverty from an opposite but complementary perspective they delineate ways in which malaria arrests economic development both for individuals and for whole nations. Microeconomic analyses focusing on direct and indirect costs estimate that malaria may consume up to 10 of a household s annual income. A Ghanaian study that categorized the population by income group highlighted the regressive nature of this cost the burden of malaria represents only 1 of a wealthy family s income but 34 of a poor household s income. At the national level macroeconomic analyses estimate that malaria may reduce the per capita gross national product of a disease-endemic country by 50 relative to that of a nonmalarial country. The causes of this drag include high fertility rates impaired .
