Malaria makes Africa poor: Not colonialism, wars etc

[Dear Mami]

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Of all the usual factors, the slave trade, colonial extraction, civil wars etc, apparently (these guys claim) empirically, malaria is the biggest factor in African poverty. They say this 'theory' explains a lot in the differences in development trends of continent visavis others but also explains differences observed within the continent between various places.

At least according to this study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5224010_Root_Causes_of_African_Underdevelopment

Found it super interesting.

[RV Pundit]

Interesting theory. thanks.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Of all the usual factors, the slave trade, colonial extraction, civil wars etc, apparently (these guys claim) empirically, malaria is the biggest factor in African poverty. They say this 'theory' explains a lot in the differences in development trends of continent visavis others but also explains differences observed within the continent between various places.

At least according to this study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5224010_Root_Causes_of_African_Underdevelopment

Found it super interesting.

My hunches are this is just another tail wagging the dog interpretation of numbers.  The Negro playing no role of consequence in his own fate.  Tim Butcher's Blood River is somewhat insightful.  DRC, in the 30s, 40s, 50s, was a very functional place.  From the perspective of bazungu.  Granted the native was subjugated.  But even the elderly natives readily admit it was better when the bazungu ran the place.  And Malaria was still there then.

To be fair, I need to read or at least scan this article before dismissing it.

[vooke]

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=49850476DEB1C037AC29474F908DF43D?doi=10.1.1.546.502&rep=rep1&type=pdf

So lower capital accumulation in some regions is MOSTLY due to Malaria as these places have lower  productivity and lower saving rates and higher consumption rate.

What if the lower productivity is caused by the weather and other factors?

[Dear Mami]

The paper is not written by an African.

[MOON Ki]

I'll state it from the git-go, as the Americans would put it: mine is a crude and and simplistic one. 

Look around the Beloved Continent today.   See how they, especially the leaders, are all f**king up?   Hard to see where Malaria fits in.   

Last 50+ years of Free-and-Independent, except for the endless brutality against ones own, the endless theft from public coffers, etc. etc. etc. 

Malaria or the New Colonialism?  Mirror, mirror; where art thou?

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=49850476DEB1C037AC29474F908DF43D?doi=10.1.1.546.502&rep=rep1&type=pdf

So lower capital accumulation in some regions is MOSTLY due to Malaria as these places have lower  productivity and lower saving rates and higher consumption rate.

What if the lower productivity is caused by the weather and other factors?

I keep getting back to DRC during colonialism.  It's a microcosm, if a bit extreme, of the continent.  Why wasn't Malaria hurting bazungu's ability to exploit and make the place work them?

[Dear Mami]

I'll state it from the git-go, as the Americans would put it: mine is a crude and and simplistic one. 

Look around the Beloved Continent today.   See how they, especially the leaders, are all f**king up?   Hard to see where Malaria fits in.   

Last 50+ years of Free-and-Independent, except for the endless brutality against ones own, the endless theft from public coffers, etc. etc. etc. 

Malaria or the New Colonialism?  Mirror, mirror; where art thou?

Hi, Moon Ki, where have you been? It's been a minute.

[MOON Ki]

Hi, Moon Ki, where have you been? It's been a minute.

Kadame9!   Yes, its' been.    Busy, busy, busy.  You know how it is with three full-time jobs (paid one, black one, and mwafrika one).   

Anyways, doesn't looked I missed much.  Do you think we will have a definite end to the 2017 elections, or at least a clear declaration that the 2022 ones are underway?

[Kichwa]

Glad you are back Moon Ki.  Now that most of your predictions about the elections came true, we demand more predictions.

Hi, Moon Ki, where have you been? It's been a minute.

Kadame9!   Yes, its' been.    Busy, busy, busy.  You know how it is with three full-time jobs (paid one, black one, and mwafrika one).   

Anyways, doesn't looked I missed much.  Do you think we will have a definite end to the 2017 elections, or at least a clear declaration that the 2022 ones are underway?

[veritas]

Malaria is overrated. Evey time anyone gets a cold it's dubbed malaria. I didn't catch malaria even once when I was in Kenya. It's so easy to diagnose & treat. Anyone suspected of malaria took anti-malaria tabs or quinine injections and recovered immediately. The thing that shocked me was cerebral malaria when left too late. But I only witnessed that once in 2 years while I was in Kenya. Not a single person where I was actually died of malaria. The killer were the lack of clean water,  hygiene and lack of antibiotics. I don't know why malaria is overhyped. In the pathology mudhut, most turned out to be a bacterial infection and not malaria. Those diagnosed with severe malaria cleared with quinine injections. I donated hundreds of quinine drugs before I left. Why drug discovery groups are pining for "cures" when there is a cure on the ground is beyond me.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Malaria is overrated. Evey time anyone gets a cold it's dubbed malaria. I didn't catch malaria even once when I was in Kenya. It's so easy to diagnose & treat. Anyone suspected of malaria took anti-malaria tabs or quinine injections and recovered immediately. The thing that shocked me was cerebral malaria when left too late. But I only witnessed that once in 2 years while I was in Kenya. Not a single person where I was actually died of malaria. The killer were the lack of clean water,  hygiene and lack of antibiotics. I don't know why malaria is overhyped. In the pathology mudhut, most turned out to be a bacterial infection and not malaria. Those diagnosed with severe malaria cleared with quinine injections. I donated hundreds of quinine drugs before I left. Why drug discovery groups are pining for "cures" when there is a cure on the ground is beyond me.

And now apparently it explains the results of 32 years of Mobutu.

[vooke]

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=49850476DEB1C037AC29474F908DF43D?doi=10.1.1.546.502&rep=rep1&type=pdf

So lower capital accumulation in some regions is MOSTLY due to Malaria as these places have lower  productivity and lower saving rates and higher consumption rate.

What if the lower productivity is caused by the weather and other factors?

I keep getting back to DRC during colonialism.  It's a microcosm, if a bit extreme, of the continent.  Why wasn't Malaria hurting bazungu's ability to exploit and make the place work them?

I think the data is solid but the authors err on cause & effect. Malaria does not cause poverty, it only exacerbates it. If you removed poverty (low savings,more consumption and low capital accumulation) and replaced it with wind speed, you'd end up saying Malaria causes wind

[RV Pundit]

They may be on money - looking at malaria zones in kenya - they are more prone to poverty.Malaria(human) and Tse tsefly(animals) have been the two most serious disease in Africa for many centuries. The fear of Malaria prevented enlightened world from venturing into Africa. It wasn't until the discovery of quinine that Africa would be colonized and it's modernity started. Most of sub-sahara Africa lies in the malaria and tse tsefly zones.

Obviously there are many cause of poverty and underdevelopment - but definitely malaria is up there with big ones.And it's elimination should be the top priority.

[Dear Mami]

They may be on money - looking at malaria zones in kenya - they are more prone to poverty.Malaria(human) and Tse tsefly(animals) have been the two most serious disease in Africa for many centuries. The fear of Malaria prevented enlightened world from venturing into Africa. It wasn't until the discovery of quinine that Africa would be colonized and it's modernity started. Most of sub-sahara Africa lies in the malaria and tse tsefly zones.

Obviously there are many cause of poverty and underdevelopment - but definitely malaria is up there with big ones.And it's elimination should be the top priority.

This is what I most appreciate about you, you're open-minded and not quick to dismiss things that don't fit your current paradigm (so long as Ruto is not concerned lol). I share your view precisely. If you read the article, their main aim is actually people who are currently involved in aid/devlt missions in Africa. They're telling them: Look. If you're serious about fighting poverty here, this is where you'll get the most bang for your buck, long-term.

[Dear Mami]

Hi, Moon Ki, where have you been? It's been a minute.

Kadame9!   Yes, its' been.    Busy, busy, busy.  You know how it is with three full-time jobs (paid one, black one, and mwafrika one).   

Anyways, doesn't looked I missed much.  Do you think we will have a definite end to the 2017 elections, or at least a clear declaration that the 2022 ones are underway?

You sound like a busy man. No you haven't missed much and your predictions came to pass. I haven't been keeping up with the politics back home much myself. I come here every so often to see what Pundit n Robina n the others are discussing in order to get a feel for what's going on over there.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=49850476DEB1C037AC29474F908DF43D?doi=10.1.1.546.502&rep=rep1&type=pdf

So lower capital accumulation in some regions is MOSTLY due to Malaria as these places have lower  productivity and lower saving rates and higher consumption rate.

What if the lower productivity is caused by the weather and other factors?

I keep getting back to DRC during colonialism.  It's a microcosm, if a bit extreme, of the continent.  Why wasn't Malaria hurting bazungu's ability to exploit and make the place work them?

I think the data is solid but the authors err on cause & effect. Malaria does not cause poverty, it only exacerbates it. If you removed poverty (low savings,more consumption and low capital accumulation) and replaced it with wind speed, you'd end up saying Malaria causes wind

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

WHO's take on it http://www.who.int/malaria/world_malaria_report_2009/mal2009_rep_chap5_0040.pdf.

Once country can keep its incidence under control, elimination of the problem is just a matter of time.  It seems like the behaviors that make countries wealthy are also the things that allow elimination of the problem rather than the other way round.

Many other countries, such as Australia, Singapore, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America, were once endemic, have eliminated malaria, and continue to successfully prevent re-establishment of transmission. This is despite having areas with abundant malaria vectors and suitable climate conditions, which make them receptive to the resumption of transmission, and continued importation of parasites from abroad.

Getting rid of stagnant puddles of water in containers such as old tires, gutters, ditches, ponds etc basically interrupting the life cycle of the mosquito can virtually eliminate Malaria from a locality. 

[veritas]

Yep: https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/history/elimination_us.html

No malaria in Nairobi but in Kisumu around lake victoria I witnessed a couple lab diagnosed malaria cases. We're talking 1 in 2 months falciparum types I documented somewhere.... Lots screamed they had malaria but lab tests found otherwise.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Yep: https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/history/elimination_us.html

No malaria in Nairobi but in Kisumu around lake victoria I witnessed a couple lab diagnosed malaria cases. We're talking 1 in 2 months falciparum types I documented somewhere.... Lots screamed they had malaria but lab tests found otherwise.

How much truth is there in the idea that folks in Malaria zones tend to have some immunity?