Almost 10% of the world’s new leprosy cases occur in Indonesia, and the World Health Organization warns of “a serious and emerging threat from dengue fever.”
An article published in PLoS One last month estimated the economic impact of dengue in Indonesia in 2010 at more than $323 million. Dengue has long been a public-health threat in Southeast Asia, and record numbers of cases have been reported recently in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, where the article estimates the 2010 impact at $128 million.
If Indonesia doesn’t better control these diseases, the new study says, “they could thwart future growth and economic gains because of their adverse impact on child development, labor, and the health of girls and women.”
That’s a worrisome prospect for Indonesia. Economic growth has averaged 6% in recent years, and the middle class is projected to more than double in size over the next decade.
http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2014/0 ... ic-health/