Socio-Economic Impact of Malaria Epidemics on Households in Nigeria: Microevidence from Kwara State

This study focused on the effects of malaria on household productivity, expenditure and mortality in Kwara state, Nigeria. In recent years, there has been increase in human and financial commitments to Malaria control, nationally and internationally, partly due to the need to meet the Development targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and that of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). All these efforts have however, not translated into significant decrease in its incidence and impact in Nigeria. This served as a motivation for this study. Living in malaria-endemic regions places an economic burden on households even if they do not actually suffer an episode of malaria. Using binary response model, the study analyzed the effect of malaria on productivity, household expenditure and mortality rate. The result obtained shows that study is that differences in household costs of malaria are the product of complex relationships between social, economic and epidemiological factors. It further showed that malaria infection have negative effects on productivity, treatment cost of all household have a positive effect on private expenditure especially of the marginal groups and malaria infection has a positive effect on mortality rate. This is a serious threat to the achievement of the NEEDS and MDGs target to eradicate the endemic disease. The study recommends a more holistic approach for control of Malaria to include periodic fumigation of the environment among and others.