'MALARIA MADE ME BANKRUPT' - MALARIA'S ECONOMIC IMPACT
A service provider in rural Nigeria who was hit financially when she had malaria for 21 days.
Mabel, a young adult who is a service provider and student in rural Nigeria, fell seriously ill with malaria. What began as a few days of fever quickly turned into a three-week ordeal that disrupted her life in every way.
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Mabel earns N15,000 a day, but she only gets paid for the days she shows up. When she had malaria she wasn’t able to earn. “Over 21 days, I lost N300,000 in income,” she explained. Over the three weeks her medical bills kept piling up, draining her personal savings, leaving her unable to meet even basic needs.
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“I went bankrupt and had to rely on friends for daily survival.”
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The consequences of having malaria went beyond her personal finances. Missing three weeks of school made it difficult to catch up academically, and she also could not support those who depend on her financially.
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Mabel’s experience illustrates a reality often overlooked: malaria is not only a health crisis, it has a significant economic cost too. It is a deadly disease that can push households into debt, disrupt small businesses, and slow the growth of communities and economies.
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Across Sub-Saharan Africa, malaria costs billions in lost productivity and reduced GDP. Our research shows that in a worst-case scenario, a malaria resurgence could mean the region loses $83 billion in GDP.
Investing in malaria through institutions like the Global Fund protects not only lives but also livelihoods, jobs, and the growth of fragile economies.