[ad_1]
Eliminating disease and death from bilharzia and soil-borne helminthiasis, a worm infection, by 2030 in Rwanda can boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The forecasts are contained in the latest report by The Economist Intelligence Unit, which suggests that eradicating tropical diseases could boost the country’s GDP by $ 400 million by 2040.
Tropical diseases continue to be an obstacle to the socio-economic development and quality of life of the people of Rwanda.
More than 560 million people in Africa remain at risk of contracting neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a group of infectious parasitic and bacterial diseases, such as river blindness and roundworms, according to the report.
Released on October 6, the report states that schistosoma mansoni and all the major soil-borne helminthiasis species (intestinal worms that are transmitted to humans through contaminated soil) are endemic in Rwanda.
The three main species that infect humans are Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuris trichiura (whipworm), and Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale (two species of hookworms).
Schistosoma mansoni causes intestinal but not genitourinary schistosomiasis.
The report looked at, among other things, how reducing the disease and premature death associated with NTDs would increase the economic productivity of adults and how the treatment and prevention of NTDs on a large scale could greatly increase the GDP of countries currently suffering from the diseases.
In the more than 54 countries in Africa where NTDs persist, there is a large economic and social burden from these diseases, the report says, and the most common NTDs in Africa are roundworms and bilharzia.
“If left untreated, these diseases can cause disability and premature death. NTDs affect the most marginalized and impoverished communities in society, who often have limited access to safe water and good sanitation,” reads part of the report.
The report analyzed that the elimination of diseases and deaths from soil-transmitted bilharzia and helminthiasis in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe by 2030 could boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of these countries by US $ 5.1 billion in parity terms. of purchasing power by 2040.
The biggest potential gains are seen in Ethiopia with $ 3.2 billion, followed by Kenya ($ 1.3 billion), Rwanda ($ 0.4 billion) and Zimbabwe ($ 0.3 billion).
All figures refer to purchasing power parity.
Sign up for free AllAfrica newsletters
Get the latest African news straight to your inbox
According to the report, these economic benefits would be a direct result of the reduction of diseases that would allow adults to work and contribute more actively to the economy.
Furthermore, eliminating parasitic infections among school-age children would improve their ability to learn and attend school.
“In the last 10 years, we have had tremendous improvements in children’s health. We have drastically reduced morbidity. But we cannot stop control interventions now. If we stop, we lose all benefits”, Dr. Antonio Montresor, Official Physician , in charge of Soil-transmitted Helminthiasis (STH), ETD department, explains the WHO.
Between 2007 and 2010, $ 3.3 million in philanthropic funds were provided to the Rwanda NTD program.
With this funding, in June 2007 the Ministry of Health launched a large-scale NTD control program, targeting the five NTDs for which preventive chemotherapy is available.
The financing also covered diagnostic equipment for health facilities, training of health personnel, and development of indicators that were added to the country’s Health Management Information System.
As a result of these efforts, the prevalence rates of schistosomiasis and HTS nearly halved in Rwanda between 2000 and 2017, falling respectively from 13% to 6.7% and from 55% to 31%.
The report says that the elimination of NTDs requires concerted action that is tailored to local contexts.
