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Malaria eradication and economic outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Uganda

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  • Barofsky, Jeremy
  • Anekwe, Tobenna D.
  • Chase, Claire

Abstract

This study evaluates the economic consequences of a 1959–1960 malaria eradication campaign in southwestern Uganda. The effort constitutes a rare, large-scale, and well-documented attempt to eliminate malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and produced an immediate disease reduction. We use this quasi-experimental health shock to identify long-term changes in educational and economic outcomes. Comparing the treatment district to a similar synthetic control, we find malaria eradication raised educational attainment by about a half year for both males and females, increased primary school completion among females and generated an almost 40% rise in the likelihood of male wage employment.

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  • Barofsky, Jeremy & Anekwe, Tobenna D. & Chase, Claire, 2015. "Malaria eradication and economic outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Uganda," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 118-136.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:44:y:2015:i:c:p:118-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2015.08.002
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    7. Michaela Kecskésová & Štěpán Mikula, 2022. "Malaria and Economic Development in the Short-term: Plasmodium falciparum vs Plasmodium vivax," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2022-03, Masaryk University, revised Feb 2023.
    8. Cirera, Laia & Castelló, Judit Vall & Brew, Joe & Saúte, Francisco & Sicuri, Elisa, 2022. "The impact of a malaria elimination initiative on school outcomes: Evidence from Southern Mozambique," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    9. Milusheva,Sveta, 2020. "Using Mobile Phone Data to Reduce Spread of Disease," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9198, The World Bank.
    10. Karpavicius, Luiza & Chimeli, Ariaster, 2023. "Forest Protection and Human Health: The Case of Malaria in the Brazilian Amazon," TD NEREUS 6-2023, Núcleo de Economia Regional e Urbana da Universidade de São Paulo (NEREUS).
    11. Bonan, Jacopo & LeMay-Boucher, Philippe & Tenikue, Michel, 2016. "Increasing Anti-Malaria Bednet Uptake Using Information and Distribution Strategies: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Senegal," MITP: Mitigation, Innovation and Transformation Pathways 249787, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    12. Milusheva, Sveta, 2020. "Managing the spread of disease with mobile phone data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Visconti, Roberto Moro & Larocca, Alberto & Marconi, Michele, 2020. "Accessibility to First-Mile health services: A time-cost model for rural Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    14. Elisa Sicuri & Francesco Ramponi & Iris Lopes-Rafegas & Francisco Saúte, 2022. "A broader perspective on the economics of malaria prevention and the potential impact of SARS-CoV-2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-3, December.
    15. Ranjeeta Thomas & Laia Cirera & Joe Brew & Francisco Saúte & Elisa Sicuri, 2021. "The short‐term impact of a malaria elimination initiative in Southern Mozambique: Application of the synthetic control method to routine surveillance data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2168-2184, September.
    16. Luiza M Karpavicius & Ariaster Chimeli, 2023. "Forest Protection and Human Health: The Case of Malaria in the Brazilian Amazon," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2023_08, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP), revised 26 Jul 2023.
    17. Sergi Alonso & Khátia Munguambe & Elisa Sicuri, 2017. "Market for Artemether‐Lumefantrine to treat childhood malaria in a district of southern Mozambique," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 345-360, December.
    18. Chisanga, Brian & Bulte, Erwin & Kassie, Menale & Mutero, Clifford & Masaninga, Freddie & Sangoro, Onyango Peter, 2023. "The economic impacts of house screening against malaria transmission: Experimental evidence from eastern Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    19. Shampa Bhattacharjee & Aparajita Dasgupta, 2022. "Disease Eradication, Infant Mortality, and Fertility Response: Evidence from Malaria Eradication in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(12), pages 2444-2459, December.
    20. Alexander S. Skorobogatov, 2021. "The effect of alcohol sales restrictions on alcohol poisoning mortality: Evidence from Russia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1417-1442, June.
    21. Kuschnig, Nikolas & Vashold, Lukas, 2023. "The economic impacts of malaria: past, present, and future," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 338, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    22. Nandi, Arindam & Kumar, Santosh & Shet, Anita & Bloom, David E. & Laxminarayan, Ramanan, 2020. "Childhood vaccinations and adult schooling attainment: Long-term evidence from India's Universal Immunization Programme," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    23. Bethencourt, Carlos & Marrero, Gustavo A. & Ngoudji, Charlie Y., 2021. "The Fight against Malaria: A New Index for Quantifying and Assessing Policy Implementation Actions to Reduce Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 108570, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Ogasawara, Kota & Inoue, Tatsuki, 2021. "The long-run heterogeneous effects of a cholera pandemic on stature: Evidence from industrializing Japan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    25. Fink, Günther & Venkataramani, Atheendar S. & Zanolini, Arianna, 2021. "Early life adversity, biological adaptation, and human capital: evidence from an interrupted malaria control program in Zambia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Malaria; Malaria eradication; Human capital; Economic development; Uganda;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure

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