In The Republic of Congo, one widowed mother who earns $240 a month as a civil servant says she often spends up to $170 a month on medicine to treat her six children for malaria during the year.
"There are times when they are all affected by malaria at the same time," Youla told the United Nation's Integrated Regional Information Networks.
She told IRIN that she keeps her prescription orders so she can keep tabs on how much she spends on malaria medicine every year for her children that are all under the age of 15.
Youla said that she is only able to make ends meet because she has the advantage of livings on her own plot of land. She is able to grow maize and make donuts to sell for extra money.
And it isn't just individuals that are spending a hefty amount of their incomes on malaria medicine.
Many people in malaria afflicted countries live on one to two dollars a day. That means government end up paying for medicines, which in some nations take up to 40 percent of their spending on public health.
But that money isn't enough to both treat the disease and try to prevent it by improving water and sanitation facilities and providing mosquito nets for people to sleep inside, according to UNICEF reports.
UNICEF and its other partners, along with governments, and public and private sector organizations have issued a call to increase global efforts to combat the disease. The call is part of observances of World Malaria Day 2008 on Friday.
