Poverty is a relative word. A poor American may be rich if compared to a poor Nigerian. Poverty has been defined as having many faces changing from place to place and across time, and has been described in many ways. It has been defined by Nasir Imam (2002) as a concept that entails socio-economic and political deprivation, which may affect individuals, households, or communities, and which may result in lack of access to the basic necessities of life. Poverty has also been defined as hunger, lack of shelter, and being sick and not being able to afford medical treatment. Illness, on its part, is the condition of being in poor health. Being in poor health can be mental or physical, as the paper will show. One can say from the above definitions that there is a relationship between poverty and illnesses. It is not the case, however, that all illnesses are results of poverty. There are other causes of illnesses, one of which, ironically, is affluence.
The purpose of this paper is to focus on less developed countries and examine poverty-related illnesses that exist in these countries, drawing most of the examples from the Nigerian experience. It wants to find out whether there is a logical relationship between poverty and illnesses. Towards achieving this purpose, the paper will examine some illnesses that are common in Africa, especially in Nigeria, and see whether there is a symbiotic relationship between the occurrence of these illnesses and poverty.
Our findings are expected to assist developing nations in taking appropriate steps towards health development programs especially as they relate to poverty.