Malaria ranks among the major health and development challenges facing developing countries. Eliminating malaria should be a major goal for the developed world as a way to help the developing world, says the Milken Institute.
The humanitarian costs of malaria are significant:
A typical bout of malaria lasts about 10 to 14 days, with four to six days of incapacitation and recuperation periods of four to eight days characterised by fatigue and weakness. This results in an average loss of four to six working days. Additionally, it is a major cause of school absenteeism, thus reducing human capital in countries that desperately need it.
Consequently, reducing and eliminating malaria is an economic windfall for affected countries. The authors find that:
Source: F. Desmond McCarthy, Holger Wolf, and Yi Wu, The Burden of Malaria: A Sobering Calculation, Milken Institute Review, First Quarter 2004, March 2004.
For MIR text (subscription required) http://65.54.187.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=3aeecb4c95282938c009547337b965f7&lat=1094849377&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2emilkeninstitute%2eorg%2fmitrack%2etaf%3fUID%3d27602
For more on International Health Carehttp://www.ncpa.org/iss/int/
FMF Policy Bulletin 21 September 2004
