Ha, WeiYusuf, ShahidNabeshima, Kaoru2012-06-052012-06-052007-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7176The benefits of good health to individuals and to society are strongly positive and improving the health of the poor is a key Millennium Development Goal. A typical health strategy advocated by some is increased public spending on health targeted to favor the poor and backed by foreign assistance, as well as by an international effort to perfect drugs and vaccines to ameliorate infectious diseases bedeviling the developing nations. But if the objective is better health outcomes at the least cost and a reduction in urban health inequity, the authors' research suggests that the four most potent policy interventions are: water and sanitation systems; urban land use and transport planning; effective primary care and health programs aimed at influencing diets and lifestyles; and education. The payoff from these four in terms of health outcomes dwarf the returns from new drugs and curative hospital-based medicine, although these certainly have their place in a modern urban health system. And the authors find that the resource requirements for successful health care policies are likely to depend on an acceleration of economic growth rates which increase household purchasing power and enlarge the pool of resources available to national and subnational governments to invest in health-related infrastructure and services. Thus, an acceleration of growth rates may be necessary to sustain a viable urban health strategy which is equitable and to ensure steady gains in health outcomes.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EDUCATIONAGE GROUPSAIDS EPIDEMICALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCYBABYCANCERCAPITAL COSTSCAPITAL EXPENDITURECASUAL EMPLOYMENTCHILD MORTALITYCHRONIC CONDITIONSCIVIL WARCLEAN WATERCOMMUNICABLE DISEASESCRIMEDEATHSDEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEWORMINGDIETDIETSDISABILITIESDISEASE CONTROLDRUG ABUSEDRUGSEARLY CHILDHOODECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OUTCOMESECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC STATUSEDUCATIONEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTELDERLYEXPENDITURESFAMILY SIZEFEMALE HEADED HOUSEHOLDSFERTILITYFERTILITY RATEFOLIC ACIDHEALTHHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE POLICIESHEALTH CONDITIONSHEALTH INDICATORSHEALTH INEQUITIESHEALTH OUTCOMESHEALTH PROBLEMSHEALTH PROGRAMSHEALTH SECTORHEALTH SERVICESHEALTH STATUSHEALTH SYSTEMHEALTH SYSTEMSHEALTHY CITIESHIVHOSPITALHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLDSHOUSING CONDITIONSHOUSING UNITSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN LIFEILL-HEALTHILLITERACYIMPACT ON HEALTHIMPROVEMENTS IN MORTALITYINCOME COUNTRIESINCOME GROUPSINCOME GROWTHINCOME INEQUALITYINDIVIDUAL HEALTHINDOOR AIR POLLUTIONINEQUITIESINFANTINFANT HEALTHINFANT HEALTH CAREINFANT MORTALITYINFECTIOUS DISEASESINHABITANTSINHERITANCEINTERVENTIONINVESTMENT IN CHILDRENINVESTMENT IN EDUCATIONIRONLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLAND USE POLICIESLEADING CAUSESLIFE EXPECTANCIESLIFE EXPECTANCYLIFESTYLESLIVING CONDITIONSLIVING STANDARDSLOW INCOMELOWER FERTILITYMALARIAMATERNAL HEALTHMEASLESMEDICAREMIGRANTSMIGRATIONMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALMORALITYMORBIDITYMORTALITYNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNUTRITIONOCCUPATIONSOLD AGEORAL REHYDRATION THERAPYOVERCROWDINGPERSONAL HYGIENEPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLLUTIONPOPULATION GROWTHPOPULATION GROWTH RATEPOPULATION SIZEPRIMARY CAREPROBABILITYPROGRESSPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC SPENDINGPURCHASING POWERRATE OF GROWTHRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESOURCE REQUIREMENTSRURAL AREASSAFE DRINKING WATERSAFE WATERSANITATIONSCARCE RESOURCESSEXSIBLINGSSLUM DWELLERSSOCIAL CAPITALSOCIAL SERVICESURBAN AREASURBAN CENTERSURBAN COMMUNITIESURBAN HOUSINGURBAN INFRASTRUCTUREURBAN LANDURBAN POPULATIONURBAN POPULATIONSURBAN POVERTYURBAN SLUMSURBANIZATIONVACCINATIONVACCINESVIOLENCEWASTEWASTE DISPOSALWORKERSWORKFORCEWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4107