The impact of a malaria elimination initiative on school outcomes: Evidence from Southern Mozambique

Race, immunity, and lifespan: Unraveling the effect of early-life exposure to malaria risk on lifespan

We investigate a historical experience to measure the long-term effect of malaria on lifespan among infected survivors and identify a factor that mitigates malaria's effect. Using a sample of Union Army veterans born during the mid-19th century and their lifetime records, we show that exposure to high risk of malaria at birth or in early life substantially shortened their lifespan. The legacy of exposure to malaria is robust while controlling for lifetime socioeconomic and health conditions, fixed effects, and considering selection bias. Additionally, we include the US Colored Troops sample of black veterans to analyze racial differences in the effect of malaria exposure on lifespan. Exposure to malaria did not lead to a shorter lifespan among black veterans. Evidence suggests that genetic immunity to malaria in black veterans might contribute this heterogeneity.

Public health spending in Sub-Saharan Africa: exploring transmission mechanisms using the latent growth curve mediation model

In response to the imperatives of universal health coverage, structural factors that may hinder the effectiveness of increased spending in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) need attention. This study assessed the mediating role of these factors in domestic general government health expenditure (DGGHE) effects to propose solutions for improving population health outcomes (PHO). The analysis used the Latent Growth Curve Mediation Model (LGCMM) approach within the structural equation model (SEM) framework for panel data from 42 SSA countries from 2015 to 2018. The findings were that malaria and female education formed a channel through which DGGHE imparted its effects on DALY in SSA, and these effects were achieved via the specific path from the DGGHE slope to the DALY slope, via malaria and female education slopes. However, the paper found no evidence of immunization coverage mediating the relationship between DGGHE and DALY in SSA. The paper concludes that structural factors affect the effectiveness of DGGHE on PHO, implying that governments should emphasize existing programs to fight against malaria and increase immunization coverage.