Evidence on the Economic Burden of Repeat Malaria Episodes among Households in Rural Uganda

Abstract

Propensity score matching is used to investigate the economic burden of repeat episodes of malaria in rural Uganda on farm incomes and household food consumption expenditures. We also examine the impacts of: expenditure on mosquito bed-nets on the number of malaria episodes and access to microcredit on expenditures to prevent the disease. The findings show that annual farm income declines by about 50% due to severe frequent malaria episodes and the household expenditure on animal protein foods declines by 34%. Repeat malaria episodes among children and adults decline among users of bed nets by about 29% and 41%, respectively. Improved access to microcredit alleviates household liquidity constraints and enables households to increase their investment in preventive measures by over 62%. The results show that after controlling for household characteristics, malaria places a significant economic burden on rural households.