A Systematic Review of Associated Risk Factors for Communicable Diseases

Introduction Communicable diseases have had negative impact for many years. They cause millions of deaths every year globally, they have raised billions of healthcare expenditures, and thus, they have consequently increased billions of economic losses at a global scale. This study focused greatly on the biological characteristics of communicable diseases and their increased socio-economic burden in the Sub-Saharan countries. Methodology The study relied on systematic review of literature, from different scholars, health bodies, and line ministries. The inclusion criteria was exclusively for literature that was generated in the period from 2012 to 2021. Any other literature not generated in the stated time frame was considered outside the scope of this study. Results The results of the study show that high population density, lack of primary hand hygiene facilities, climate change, and poverty headcount substantially increase communicable diseases. Further, the study revealed that communicable diseases increase countries’ healthcare expenditures and decrease their economic growth which is a vital concern of the global economy as in the case of Covid-19 pandemic which brought the global economy on its knees. Conclusion Our study identified significant factors that contribute to communicable diseases and that these increase the financing of health care in developing countries while also reducing on economic growth. Understanding these drivers can inform programmatic interventions targeting reduction of communicable diseases.