Diseases and sustainable development: the cases of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Nigeria

Abstract

The third goal of sustainable development is “good health and well-being.” Health and wellbeing are very critical for economic performance and attainment of sustainable development. A healthy population can enhance national productivity, savings, human and physical capital formation, per capita income growth, and contribute to poverty alleviation. The presence of diseases in any society however, could undermine sustainable development activities. This is because diseases possess the inclination to cut short life expectancy, reduce quantity and quality of the labour force, and bring about decline in the level of productivity in an economy. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria and tuberculosis (TB) are major endemic diseases in Nigeria. Available facts have shown that the three diseases are responsible for high rates of morbidity and mortality among the nation‟s population than any other group of diseases in the country. This study examines the effects of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB on sustainable development activities in Nigeria. It discovered that the menaces of the three diseases have aggravated morbidity and mortality rates, depressed investment in human and physical capital, lowered labour supply and productivity, changed demographic structure, reduced output growth, raised poverty level and increased number of vulnerable groups in the country, all of which could prevent sustainable development in the country. It is therefore recommended that efforts should be geared not only towards treating persons infected with the three diseases but their spread should be largely controlled if notcompletely eradicated in order to have a healthy population capable of contributing to sustainability of development in the country.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, sustainable development, Nigeria

JEL Classification: I15, O47