Health and Disease in Malawi

Freedom including ‘the liberty of political participation or the opportunity to receive basic education or health care are constituent components of development’ (Sen, 1999). The anguish of disease and premature death makes disease control a central preoccupation in all societies, and has motivated the inclusion of health among the basic human rights enshrined in international law (Attaran, 2001). Good health is widely acknowledged to be a critical factor in poverty reduction and economic development. The WHO Commission on Macro-Economics and Health argued that societies with a heavy burden of disease tend to experience a multiplicity of severe impediments to economic progress. Conversely, several of the great ‘take-offs’ in economic history were supported by important breakthroughs in public health, disease control and improved nutritional intake. Disease reduces the annual incomes of society, the lifetime incomes of individuals and prospects for economic growth. A concerted attack against diseases, therefore, directly serves to reduce poverty (World Health Organization, 2001).