Briefing Paper

Malaria in Uganda: Improved Outcomes when the Health Sector Joins Forces with Agriculture

“Malaria outcomes are closely related to agricultural settings. How, when and where crops are grown, livestock is raised and irrigation is developed all affect malaria rates in a given local area. Moreover, evaluations of health-only focused interventions suggest that while these interventions produce dramatic declines in infection, morbidity, and mortality, the declines are not sufficient to interrupt transmission. Finally, the WHO estimates that 30 to 53 percent of the global malaria burden (half a million deaths) is attributable to modifiable environmental factors. Despite this, malaria is still largely considered a health issue, and almost all interventions have a health focus (key interventions include insecticide treated bed nets and anti-malaria medication), even though those most at risk of malaria spend much of their daylight hours in agriculture and related activities.”