Does reducing malaria improve household living standards?

Abstract

Living in malaria-endemic regions places an economic burden on households even if they do not actually suffer an episode of malaria. Households living in endemic malarial regions are less likely to have access to economic opportunities and may have to modify agricultural practices and other household behaviour to adapt to their disease environment. Data from Vietnam demonstrate that reductions in malaria incidence through government-financed malaria control programmes can contribute to higher household income for all households in endemic areas. Empirically, the roughly 60% decline in malaria cases over the 1990s in Vietnam translated to a $12.60 average improvement in annual consumption of all households, or a roughly $180 million annual economic benefit in the form of improved living standards.