What Are the Main Causes of Poverty?
Another link in the chain of answers to the question “What are the main causes of poverty?” is the problem of health and healthcare. Extreme poverty and poor health go hand in hand.[1] Getting an illness prevents someone from working, causing an unaffordable loss of wages. Paying for medical care or medicines further drains already tight resources.
GFA World pastor Kagan’s community suffers from the effects of mosquito-borne malaria year-round. The height of summer and the rainy season give rise to telltale fevers. The villagers who can pay to travel to the nearest private hospital do so, but around 75 percent of the community cannot afford to pay for that medical care. Instead, they must settle for a small, local medical center where the treatment is often ineffective. The only thing people can really do is endure the illness and try to treat the symptoms with natural remedies from the surrounding jungle. Malaria is a debilitating disease that can linger for weeks or months. Deaths from malaria are not uncommon; a woman from Pastor Kagan’s congregation recently succumbed to the illness, leaving behind a husband and four daughters.
According to the World Health Organization, the largest contributor to preventing malaria is the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.[2] The nets prevent bites from infected mosquitos as well as block other insects, and even snakes, from entering people’s homes. These nets are easy and cost-effective in regions with limited medical care.
After some time spent praying to be able to distribute mosquito nets, Pastor Kagan received the welcome news that the funds were available. He and church members gathered a list of families who needed the nets most, and about 100 families, including Pastor Kagan’s, received protection from mosquitos. Hywel, one of the recipients, and his family had just recovered from malaria at the time of distribution. He wouldn’t have been able to afford a mosquito net on his own; it would take 3–4 months’ wages. Hywel said, “If we are not sick, we will be able to work. Every day I will be able to work, work for my family, work for my children’s education, and all the sicknesses caused by mosquitoes will not hinder me now. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”[3]
Easily preventable and treatable diseases like malaria impede hard workers like Pastor Kagan and Hywel from ministry and labor. Consider joining with us to provide solutions for one of the many answers to the “What are the causes of poverty?” question. You can donate to provide mosquito nets to communities and help prevent the illness, or you can help sponsor a national missionary who recognizes needs, organizes action, and distributes these gifts.[4]
Learn more about what are the causes of poverty[1] “The Top 11 Causes of Poverty Around the World.” Concern Worldwide US. February 3, 2022. https://concernusa.org/news/causes-of-poverty/.
[2] “Global Malaria Programme.” World Health Organization. Accessed June 19, 2023. https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/prevention/vector-control.
[3] “Fighting Malaria, One Net at a Time.” GFA World. August 2022. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/fighting-malaria-one-net-at-a-time-wfr22-08/.
[4] “National Missionaries.” GFA World. Accessed June 19, 2023. https://www.gfa.org/sponsor/.