Better housing improves health in Malawian children

Improved housing in Malawi significantly reduces the burden of disease in children aged under 5 years, reducing the odds of respiratory infection, gastrointestinal illness, or malaria by 44%. However, the reductions in individual diseases are not significant. Traditional houses are made of mud bricks and floors with thatched roofing while the improved houses have fired mud bricks, tile roofing, concrete foundations, and a pit latrine. Wolff et al (p 1209) conducted a household based cross sectional survey in rural communities near the northern town of Ekwendeni. Their results emphasise the importance of including housing development programmes in efforts to improve global health.

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Effect of improved housing on illness in children under 5 years old in northern Malawi: cross sectional study

Christopher G Wolff, Dirk G Schroeder, and Mark W Young
BMJ 2001 322: 1209-1212. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]