European Research Area

 

		EDCTP
The EDCTP initiative The European Commission's role Press room Conferences in 2002: Barcelona & Brussels (Heysel)

Economic impact of the diseases

These diseases strike individuals and societies. It weighs upon health and education systems and slows economic growth. Few countries in Africa have effectively responded to this problem and the levels of infection continue to rise. The high cost of these diseases reduces economic growth and efforts to fight poverty. The World Bank estimates that many African countries may lose between 0.5 and 1.2% of growth, due solely to AIDS.

More recent calculations have suggested that the rate of economic growth has fallen by 2-4% in sub-Saharan Africa as a result of AIDS (en, fr, es 600-650 kB).

Additional information sources:

• Health, economics and poverty: WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health
• Poverty and Health: World Bank page

For more on communicable diseases read the on-line leaflet: Communicable diseases - a global emergency. The leaflet can also be ordered on-line, in 11 languages, via the publications page.

Background information

On-going research funded by the EC