Business and malaria: a neglected threat?

This report discusses the impacts of malaria on business. It gives an overview of prevention and treatment measures, looks at the international response to the disease and examines the impact malaria has on business based on a review of existing literature as well as an international survey. The report also discusses the actions the private sector can take to combat malaria, and reviews examples of business malaria programmes.

Key findings of the report include:

• Although effective prevention and treatment methods are available, these are inaccessible to many individuals who need them, resistance to pesticides and drugs has contributed to an increase in malaria prevalence in some regions in recent decades
• health problems affect businesses both directly, through their impact on employees, customers, and corporate reputation, and indirectly, through their effect on economies
• Several companies report that malaria has had severe impacts on operating costs in recent years; in a survey in Ghana, where malaria is endemic, 30 per cent of business leaders who responded reported that the disease had had a strong impact on productivity
• Several major businesses have taken action on malaria, and have benefited from the consequent development of new business contacts, the promotion of worker and customer loyalty, and the protection of workforces and, to some extent, markets

Recommendations to businesse include:

• firms should not go it alone in malaria control efforts; governments, non-governmental organisations, other companies and business associations may all have specialist knowledge that would strengthen a company’s programme
• programmes should begin by targeting employees; the most immediate effects of malaria on firms are likely to derive from its impact on workers; workers are also an easily accessible segment of the population for companies
• if expanding programmes to include workers’ families or communities, firms should be careful to define the programmes’ reach and to manage expectations
• long-term evaluation of the impact and costeffectiveness of programmes is key to their continued success.