An examination of the socio-economic effects of malaria on households in Moyo sub county, Moyo district

Abstract

Malaria has been one of the serial killer diseases of human kind, right from the history of mankind. It remains a global public health problem and it is more pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, malaria remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, government of Uganda responded with number of interventions like mosquito net distribution and IRS among others. However, less emphasis has been given to the socio-economic effects of malaria from which people have difficulty in singling out malaria for various concerns. The objective of the study was to establish the socio-economic effects of malaria on households in Moyo sub-county, Moyo district. The study specifically focused on three objective of: finding the prevalence of malaria, ascertaining the economic effects of malaria and establishing the social effects of malaria on the selected households in Moyo sub-county The study employed a case study design and a qualitative approach. Thirty five respondents participated in the study. Methods used for data collection were key informants interview, focus group discussions and structured observation to supplement the interviews. Thematic analysis was used in the course of analyzing the data. The findings of the study showed that malaria disease is leading among the 10 rated disease burden in terms of prevalence; it caused economic loss to households through treatment and prevention. Malaria equally contributes to loss of production time due to sickness. The malaria disease is disruptive to education of children, it also contributes to household food insecurity and is responsible for social disconnect in the community. The study recommends that in order to fight against malaria there is need for massive awareness campaigns about the dangers of malaria to households, households should be encouraged to always sleep under mosquito nets, the sick should always seek for health services early and timely once attacked by malaria and mothers should attend to antenatal clinics routinely.