- Q: How does preventing disease contribute to stable governance?
- A: Diseases such as HIV/AIDS can rob societies of their most productive workers, educated professionals, and political leaders, undermining economic growth and worsening social tensions. Children who lose their parent(s) to AIDS are more vulnerable to exploitation, school teachers infected with HIV cannot teach effectively, and soldiers with HIV/AIDS may not be able to protect their countries.
World Bank: Disease Is a Preventable Cause of Poverty
A staggering 99% of people who die from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis (TB) live in the developing world. Though new HIV infections are declining and the number of people receiving antiretroviral treatment is growing, as of 2013, 35 million people were still living with HIV. The center of the epidemic remains sub-Saharan Africa, home to 70% of all new HIV infections. Malaria kills about 660,000 people each year, imposing a huge toll on African economies and households. Economists believe that malaria is responsible for a growth penalty of up to 1.3% in some African countries, severely restraining economic growth in the region. The world is on course to halve TB mortality by 2015 in comparison with 1990, but in 2011, there were nearly 9 million cases.
A World Bank-supported HIV/AIDS testing facility, Botswana.
- Effective prevention, care, and sustainable treatment includes:
- Promoting safer sexual behavior, male circumcision, and providing treatment for HIV prevention
- Promoting use of long-lasting, insecticide-treated nets to combat malaria
- Increasing access to efficacious anti-malaria medicines
- Improving housing conditions, TB screening of HIV-positive persons, and Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) therapy for TB.
Making Strides in Combating Disease
With World Bank Group support, from 2003-2013, more than 1.3 million adults and children with HIV received antiretroviral therapy, nearly 152 million malaria nets were purchased and/or distributed, and 601 million condoms were purchased and/or distributed to prevent HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies.
Our Strategy to Help Countries Combat Disease
- Support countries to scale up health interventions
- Develop stronger national health systems
- Ensure disease prevention is integrated into maternal and child health programs
- Protect the poor from health risks and financial shocks
MDG 6 Results
IDA is helping to achieve MDG 6 by providing prevention, care, and mitigation services for those affected by infectious disease.
- Benin: 64% of children slept under bed nets in 2010, up from 20% in 2006. The number of pregnant women sleeping under bed nets rose from 20 to 60% during the same period.
- India: More than 15 million people with tuberculosis were diagnosed and treated during 1998–2012, saving an estimated 2.6 million lives.
- Republic of Congo: 77% of pregnant women receiving prenatal care took voluntary HIV tests in 2011, up from just 16% in 2003.
How’s the World Doing?
- 2.1 million people are newly infected with HIV each year.
- 12.9million people worldwide living with HIV had access to antiretroviral therapy as of 2013.
- 20%decline in child mortality in countries with improved access to malaria control interventions.
- 20 million lives saved due to tuberculosis treatment, between 1995 and 2011.
