Jack, WilliamLewis, Maureen2012-03-192012-03-192009-03-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4072This paper reviews the correlations and potential links between health and economic growth and summarizes the evidence on the role of government in improving health status. At the macroeconomic level, the evidence of an impact of health on growth remains ambiguous due both to difficulties in measuring health, and to the methodological challenges of identifying causal links. The evidence on the micro linkages from health investments to productivity and income are robust. Progress in life expectancy over the past two centuries has been spectacular, fueled by: improved agriculture that has increased food quantity; knowledge of disease transmission, and effective public health interventions that have controlled communicable diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and hookworm; and, most recently and importantly, investments in very young children that pay off in healthier and more productive adults. Whether public investments in medical care affect health hinges on the quality of health institutions. In much of the developing world, factors such as chronic absenteeism among public providers, poor budget execution, ineffective management, and virtually no accountability weaken public efforts. Institutional issues are central in efforts to enhance public health investments, which in turn have a direct impact on the population's welfare and, perhaps over the long term, improvements in national income.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO HEALTH CAREADULT LITERACYADULT MORTALITYADULT MORTALITY RATEADVERSE SELECTIONAGGREGATE INCOMEAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONALCOHOL CONSUMPTIONBASIC SANITATIONBLINDNESSCANCERCAPITAL INVESTMENTSCHILD MORTALITYCHILD MORTALITY RATESCITIESCITIZENSCIVIL WARCLEAN WATERCLINICSCOHORT STUDIESCOMMUNICABLE DISEASESCOST-EFFECTIVENESSCYCLE OF POVERTYDEATHSDECISION MAKINGDECLINES IN MORTALITYDELIVERY OF HEALTH CAREDEMOGRAPHIC CHANGESDETERMINANTS OF HEALTHDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEWORMINGDISADVANTAGED CHILDRENDISSEMINATIONDOCTORSDRINKING WATERDRUGSEARLY CHILDHOODECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC IMPLICATIONSECONOMIC OUTCOMESECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITYEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEFFECTIVE POLICIESELDERLYEPIDEMICEPIDEMICSEPIDEMIOLOGYEQUILIBRIUMEXPENDITURESEXTENDED FAMILIESFEMALE EDUCATIONFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD SUPPLEMENTSFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTGOOD GOVERNANCEGREEN REVOLUTIONGROWTH RATE OF POPULATIONHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE COSTSHEALTH CARE DELIVERYHEALTH CARE SERVICESHEALTH CARE SPENDINGHEALTH CARE SYSTEMSHEALTH CONDITIONSHEALTH CONSEQUENCESHEALTH INDICATORSHEALTH INSTITUTIONSHEALTH INTERVENTIONSHEALTH INVESTMENTSHEALTH ORGANIZATIONHEALTH OUTCOMESHEALTH POLICIESHEALTH POLICYHEALTH PROBLEMSHEALTH PROFESSIONSHEALTH SECTORHEALTH SERVICEHEALTH SERVICESHEALTH STATUSHEALTH WORKERSHIGH DEATH RATESHIVHIV/AIDSHOSPITALHOSPITAL AUTONOMYHOSPITALSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD WORKHUMAN ACTIVITYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHYGIENEILL HEALTHILLNESSESIMMUNIZATIONSIMPACT ON HEALTHIMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME EFFECTSINCOME GROUPSINCOME GROWTHINDIVIDUAL HEALTHINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINFANT MORTALITY RATEINFANTSINFECTION RATESINFECTIOUS DISEASESINSURANCEINTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSINTERVENTIONINVESTMENT IN CHILDRENINVESTMENTS IN EDUCATIONIODINE DEFICIENCYIRONJOB TRAININGLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR SUPPLYLAND PRODUCTIVITYLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLIFE EXPECTANCYLIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTHLITERACY RATESLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESLOWER FERTILITYMALARIAMALNOURISHED CHILDRENMARGINAL COSTMARGINAL COSTSMARKET FAILURESMEDICAIDMEDICAL CAREMEDICAL FACILITIESMEDICAL PERSONNELMEDICAL PROCEDURESMEDICAL SERVICESMEDICAL SUPPLIESMEDICAL TECHNOLOGIESMEDICAL TREATMENTMEDICAL TREATMENTSMENTAL HEALTHMENTAL ILLNESSMORBIDITYMORTALITYMORTALITY DECLINESMORTALITY LEVELSMORTALITY REDUCTIONSMOTHERNATIONAL HEALTHNATIONAL HEALTH SERVICENATURE OF HEALTHNONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUTRITIONNUTRITIONAL STATUSONCHOCERCIASIS CONTROLONCHOCERCIASIS CONTROL PROGRAMORAL REHYDRATION THERAPYORPHANSPARENTINGPATIENTPATIENTSPHYSICIANPHYSICIANSPOLICY GUIDANCEPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOOR HEALTHPOPULATION CHANGESPOPULATION SIZEPRACTITIONERSPREGNANT WOMENPREMATURE DEATHPRENATAL CAREPRIMARY HEALTH SERVICESPRIMARY SCHOOLPROBABILITYPROGRESSPROVIDER PAYMENTPSYCHOLOGYPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC HEALTH CAREPUBLIC HEALTH CARE SERVICESPUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONSPUBLIC HEALTH SPENDINGPUBLIC HOSPITALSPUBLIC POLICIESPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC PROVIDERSPUBLIC SPENDINGQUALITY OF HEALTHQUALITY OF LIFEQUARANTINERESEARCH CENTERSRICHER COUNTRIESRICHER PEOPLERISK FACTORSSAFETY NETSANITATIONSCARCE RESOURCESSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL-AGE CHILDRENSERVICE DELIVERYSIBLINGSSKILL DEVELOPMENTSMOKINGSOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL RETURNSSURGERYSURVIVAL RATEUNDER-FIVE MORTALITYUNEMPLOYMENTURBANIZATIONVACCINESWORKERSWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONYOUNG CHILDRENWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4877