Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development

" …let me say that I hope we keep our voice clear and strong on the central task of raising the health of the poor. I can be 'realistic' and 'cynical' with the best of them—giving all the reasons why things are too hard to change. We must dream a bit, not beyond the feasible but to the limits of the feasible, so that we inspire. I think that we are an important voice speaking on behalf of the world's most voiceless people today—the sick and dying among the poorest of the poor. The stakes are high. Let's therefore speak boldly so that we can feel confident that we have fulfilled our task as well as possible. " Taken by the editor from emailed correspondence from Jeffrey Sachs to the Commissioners and others working on this effort. The World Health Organization welcomes requests for permission to reproduce or translate its publications, in part or in full. Applications and enquiries should be addressed to the Office of Publications, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, which will be glad to provide the latest information on any changes made to the text, plans for new editions, and reprints and translations already available. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers' products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters. This report contains the collective views of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health and does not necessarily represent the decisions or the stated policies of the World Health Organization. The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) was established by World Health Organization Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland in January 2000 to assess the place of health in global economic development. Although health is widely understood to be both a central goal and an important outcome of development, the importance of investing in health to promote economic development and poverty reduction has been much less appreciated. We …