Not very difficult, according to Jeffrey Sachs. [1]
Hard as it is for us to imagine, Africa’s households simply can’t afford even $10 for a net, or a dollar for medicines when a child falls sick. Nor can African governments carry these costs on meager budgets or take extra vital steps to train local health workers and ensure that every village has reliable access to effective medicines.
Here is where you and I come in. Considering the costs of the nets, medicines and other components of malaria control, a comprehensive program would cost about $4.50 per African at risk, or about $3 billion a year for the whole continent. This is an amount that is too large for Africa but truly tiny for the rich world.
Let me put the $3 billion in perspective: there are a billion of us in the high-income world–that amounts to $3 a person, or one Starbucks coffee a year. It’s around 12.5% of the estimated $24 billion in Wall Street’s Christmas bonuses.
Jeffrey D. Sachs [2] is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University.
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