Understanding the linkages between poverty, nutrition and disease occurrence in rural Ghana: Why actualization of the millennium development goals matters to the rural poor

ABSTRACT
Poverty and ill health are major social pandemics that militate against several rural communities. Up until the dawn of the 21^st century, poverty and health research was usually done separately, concealing the correlation between them. Very little effort has been made over the years to juxtapose poverty and health and examine the linkages between them as a means to avert through poverty reduction the most prevalent diseases amongst poor communities for which billions of dollars are spent on their cure. Enshrined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), in-depth research on poverty and health is relevant for the actualization of the goals in desperate human societies. The paper examines the relationship between poverty and disease occurrence in rural communities in Ghana with focus on the Amansie West District of Ghana. It highlights nutritional deficiencies as key linkages through which poverty increases the susceptibility of rural households to disease prevalence in rural Ghana. The relevance of the MDG’s to the rural poor and Ghana government’s policies on poverty, hunger and health are examined. Focus group discussions, participant observation, questionnaires and in-depth interviews were the methods employed for data collection from a sample of three hundred and six (306) households randomly selected from deprived rural communities for a thorough analysis of the relationship between poverty and health. Relevant data obtained were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results clearly justified the hypotheses set for the study. Generally, poverty was found to have a significant influence on the highly prevalent diseases in rural communities which included malaria, whooping cough, skin and diarrhoeal diseases, measles and intestinal disorders. It is concluded that any strategy aimed at tackling poverty and health, needs to focus on equipping poor households with adequate and regular income as well as sufficient level of health education.