Effect of Malaria Illness on Economic Growth in Kenya

Abstract

The burden of malaria illness is a major challenge to human and economic advancement in countries prone to the disease. In Kenya, the disease accounts for approximately 30% of the total disease burden. The chief objective of the study was to determine the effect of the disease on the economic growth of Kenya. Malaria is proxied by the number of malaria cases per 100,000 people in the country, and estimation is through OLS. Time series data from 1990-2014 was used in the analysis. Secondary data was used and sourced from both national and international sources. Results indicate that when malaria morbidity rises by one unit while holding all the other independent variables constant, the growth in real GDP reduces by 0.00002. The study results indicate that malaria leads to a decline in economic growth in the country; therefore, there is need for the government and other stakeholders to increase investments to cater for prevention, control and treatment of the illness.