Endemic diseases and agricultural productivity: Challenges and policy response

Contrary to Asian countries, the agricultural sector in Africa had not benefited from the green revolution success. After a long time of disinterest in the agriculture sector in Africa, several voices arise now in favour of greater efforts towards this sector. Several studies tend to show the crucial role of agriculture in African countries' growth and highlight the huge need of increasing the productivity in this sector. If increase in agriculture productivity requires both an expansion of irrigated areas and the adoption of high yield varieties, those innovations and their high development could be the source of negative health (and environmental) effects. Using a mega-analysis, this paper highlights first the links between health, disease and development and then agricultural productivity. The literature review shows that the negative effect of bad health was not systematically checked, and that the intensity of this effect depends of the disease, but also of the work productivity and the existence or not of a coping process. The second part of the paper focused on the development of high intensive agriculture as a risk factor for farmers' and rural inhabitants' health. This survey shows that whether irrigation and fertilizer and pest intensive use could be considered as highly health (and environmental) risk factors, appropriate control measures (such as for examples systematic maintenance of irrigation canals, alternate wetting and drying of irrigated fields or integrated pest management) considerably reduce this risk, while at the same time, increase the agriculture productivity.agriculture;productivity;endemic disease;health risk factor;Africa

Endemic diseases and agricultural productivity: Challenges and policy response

Contrary to Asian countries, the agricultural sector in Africa had not benefited from the green revolution success. After a long time of disinterest in the agriculture sector in Africa, several voices arise now in favour of greater efforts towards this sector. Several studies tend to show the crucial role of agriculture in African countries’ growth and highlight the huge need of increasing the productivity in this sector. If increase in agriculture productivity requires both an expansion of irrigated areas and the adoption of high yield varieties, those innovations and their high development could be the source of negative health (and environmental) effects. Using a mega-analysis, this paper highlights first the links between health, disease and development and then agricultural productivity. The literature review shows that the negative effect of bad health was not systematically checked, and that the intensity of this effect depends of the disease, but also of the work productivity and the existence or not of a coping process. The second part of the paper focused on the development of high intensive agriculture as a risk factor for farmers’ and rural inhabitants’ health. This survey shows that whether irrigation and fertilizer and pest intensive use could be considered as highly health (and environmental) risk factors, appropriate control measures (such as for examples systematic maintenance of irrigation canals, alternate wetting and drying of irrigated fields or integrated pest management) considerably reduce this risk, while at the same time, increase the agriculture productivity.agriculture, productivity, endemic disease, health risk factor, Africa

Issues and Challenges of Measurement of Health:Implications for Economic Research

According to the human capital theory, health is a determinant of the economic development and should play a role in the fight against poverty. On the other side, the economic growth, by supplying better sanitation, water quality and hygiene, better education and income, may improve population’s health. Economists, in investigating the relations between development and health, asked for valid and relevant health status measurement. But, on the other hand, the health concept is complex as health includes several dimensions, and researchers face a battery of health indicators. The purpose of this study is to discuss, specifically for economic research, the particularity of each health indicator, the potential bias of their measurement, their advantages, disadvantages, and interest. As health indicators are too numerous, a selection was done and the analysis concerns the most frequent indicators, but also those which should be more used into the economic research perspective. Discussed health indicators are life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth, mortality rates (maternal and infant mortality included), cause-specific morbidity rates, Dalys and Qalys.

Issues and Challenges of Measurement of Health:Implications for Economic Research

According to the human capital theory, health is a determinant of the economic development and should play a role in the fight against poverty. On the other side, the economic growth, by supplying better sanitation, water quality and hygiene, better education and income, may improve population's health. Economists, in investigating the relations between development and health, asked for valid and relevant health status measurement. But, on the other hand, the health concept is complex as health includes several dimensions, and researchers face a battery of health indicators. The purpose of this study is to discuss, specifically for economic research, the particularity of each health indicator, the potential bias of their measurement, their advantages, disadvantages, and interest. As health indicators are too numerous, a selection was done and the analysis concerns the most frequent indicators, but also those which should be more used into the economic research perspective. Discussed health indicators are life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth, mortality rates (maternal and infant mortality included), cause-specific morbidity rates, Dalys and Qalys.cerdi

Issues and Challenges of Measurement of Health:Implications for Economic Research

According to the human capital theory, health is a determinant of the economic development and should play a role in the fight against poverty. On the other side, the economic growth, by supplying better sanitation, water quality and hygiene, better education and income, may improve population's health. Economists, in investigating the relations between development and health, asked for valid and relevant health status measurement. But, on the other hand, the health concept is complex as health includes several dimensions, and researchers face a battery of health indicators. The purpose of this study is to discuss, specifically for economic research, the particularity of each health indicator, the potential bias of their measurement, their advantages, disadvantages, and interest. As health indicators are too numerous, a selection was done and the analysis concerns the most frequent indicators, but also those which should be more used into the economic research perspective. Discussed health indicators are life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at birth, mortality rates (maternal and infant mortality included), cause-specific morbidity rates, Dalys and Qalys

Does external openness influence the infant mortality rates? An econometric investigation for the Chinese provinces.

During the last decades, China has achieved some remarkable results in improving the health status of its population. Since the end of the seventies, it has engaged in a process of large reforms in integrating with the global economy. This openness in policy has already paid important dividends in growth. The purpose of this study is to investigate if external openness had any influence on the evolution of infant mortality rates (IMR) in Chinese provinces since the beginning of the eighteen's. The first section is devoted to a brief comment on the evolution of the IMR. In section 2 and 3 we present the theoretical framework and the methodology adopted. Our hypotheses are tested with a panel data model. The results are discussed in section 4. They show that external openness had indirect effects on IMR in a way, which confirms the necessity to rebuild and expand medical insurance schemes. They also suggest it might be advisable to adopt measures in order to correct the health effects of the widening income disparities among provinces.China, panel data, external openness, infant mortality rates

Income Growth, Price Variation and Health Care Demand: A Mixed Logit Model Applied to Tow-period Comparison in Rural China

1989-2006 is a period of the start and the end of deregulation of Chinese health care sector and of disintegration of rural cooperative insurance system. During this period, the government health policy has turned healthcare providers all alike into profit seeking entities. Face to perverse effects, by 2003, Chinese government begun to restore rural cooperative insurance system. From CHNS data source, we constitute two samples: 89-93 and 04-06 with respectively 2117 and 2594 rural patients surveyed roughly in the same villages in 9 Chinese provinces to compare their health choice behaviors with the evolution of price, income, distance, insurance, age, and regional inequality. Using Mixed Multinomial Logit (MMNL) estimations, we have obtained three main results. First, even in both periods there is clear price effect, in 04-06 it tends to be weaker, and heterogeneity in price preference has increased. This corresponds well the fact that between the two periods price level has significantly increased and price variation reduced. Second, there is a stronger negative distance effect and heterogeneity in 2004-06, while in 89-93 this negative impact was lower and absent for providers farther than 10km. One interpretation is the existence of a substitution effect: when patients have less possibility to discriminate providers by price, they increase their preference in choice by distance. Third, while, wealth effect exists in some choices in 89-93, it becomes absent in 04-06. Explanations may be that one the one hand both supply side and demand side conditions on health care have been improved even, to less extent though, for the poor, and on the other hand, health care is necessary goods and is price inelastic. But meanwhile, we observed catastrophic effect for the poor: the poorer patients have their share of consumption in income more decreased after health care.Empirical approach, health care demand, mixed logit model, insurance, China

Income Growth, Price Variation and Health Care Demand: A Mixed Logit Model Applied to Tow-period Comparison in Rural China

1989-2006 is a period of the start and the end of deregulation of Chinese health care sector and of disintegration of rural cooperative insurance system. During this period, the government health policy has turned healthcare providers all alike into profit seeking entities. Face to perverse effects, by 2003, Chinese government begun to restore rural cooperative insurance system. From CHNS data source, we constitute two samples: 89-93 and 04-06 with respectively 2117 and 2594 rural patients surveyed roughly in the same villages in 9 Chinese provinces to compare their health choice behaviors with the evolution of price, income, distance, insurance, age, and regional inequality. Using Mixed Multinomial Logit (MMNL) estimations, we have obtained three main results. First, even in both periods there is clear price effect, in 04-06 it tends to be weaker, and heterogeneity in price preference has increased. This corresponds well the fact that between the two periods price level has significantly increased and price variation reduced. Second, there is a stronger negative distance effect and heterogeneity in 2004-06, while in 89-93 this negative impact was lower and absent for providers farther than 10km. One interpretation is the existence of a substitution effect: when patients have less possibility to discriminate providers by price, they increase their preference in choice by distance. Third, while, wealth effect exists in some choices in 89-93, it becomes absent in 04-06. Explanations may be that one the one hand both supply side and demand side conditions on health care have been improved even, to less extent though, for the poor, and on the other hand, health care is necessary goods and is price inelastic. But meanwhile, we observed catastrophic effect for the poor: the poorer patients have their share of consumption in income more decreased after health care.Empirical approach;health care demand;mixed logit model;insurance;China

Global Burden of Disease and Economic Growth

Relationships between health and economic prosperity or economic growth are difficult to assess. The direction of the causality is often questioned and the subject of a vigorous debate. For some authors, diseases or poor health had contributed to poor growth performances especially in low-income countries. For other authors, the effect of health on growth is relatively small, even if one considers that investments which could improve health should be done. It is argued in this paper that commonly used health indicators in macroeconomic studies (e. g. life expectancy, infant mortality or prevalence rates for specific diseases such as malaria or HIV/AIDS) imperfectly represent the global health status of population. Health is rather a complex notion and includes several dimensions which concern fatal (deaths) and non-fatal issues (prevalence and severity of cases) of illness. The reported effects of health on economic growth vary accordingly with health indicators and countries included in the analyses. The purpose of the paper is to assess the effect of a global health indicator on growth, the so-called disability-adjusted life year (DALY) that was proposed by the World Bank and the WHO in 1993. Growth convergence equations are run on 159 countries over the 1999-2004's period, where the potential endogeneity of the health indicator is dealt for. The negative effect of poor health on economic growth is not rejected thus reinforcing the importance of achieving MDGs.Disease Global Burden;DALYs;economic growth;macroeconomic health impact;cross-country analysis

Systèmes de production rizicole et maladies parasitaires dans l'Afrique de l'Ouest : caractéristiques socio-économiques des ménages agricoles en zone de forêt ivoirienne

This study is the continuation of a study led in the savannah area. Its purpose is to describe the economic situation of households subject to malaria risk in Côte d'Ivoire forested region, so as to provide economic indicators which could eventually help explain the expected differences in malaria morbidity. A survey was conducted beside a sample of nearly 800 rural households concerned by three different farming systems (inland valleys without rice cultivation, inland valleys with no or partial water control suitable for one annual rice crop, and inland valleys with full or partial water control suitable for two rice crops per year). This survey allowed to collect economic data such as the different cultivated crops, incomes and malaria prevention expenditures. Monetary economy is based on coffee and cocoa; rice and cassava being the main food crops. If some economic differences between the three agroecosystems were observed, those differences are not so great as in the savannah area and only concern revenues: value of property accumulation is low and quite similar in the three agroecosystems. Only 34% of families used bed nets and it was mainly for the family's head and his wife. Other means of protection against mosquitoes were used by 37% of the families. For those, the monthly average expenditure was about 1000 Fcfa.Ivory Coast, cocoa, coffee, malaria, rice cultivation