| ID | 132540 |
| Title Proper | Advancing global health through investment, information and innovation |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Kenyon, Thomas |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | The past decade has witnessed unprecedented levels of investment and engagement in global health spurred by the global HIV/AIDS crisis, the development of the Millennium Development Goals, momentum in polio eradication, and global outbreaks of infectious diseases such as SARS with its US$40 billion cost to society. Characterized by a sense of urgency, pragmatism, and opportunity, global health services and public health systems are being advanced to respond to rapidly expanding demands with dramatic results. However, much more remains to be done. After a decade in emergency mode, the next phase of global health work requires an even more precise approach and smarter investments. Many "donor" nations and organizations have tightened their belts in response to the recent economic downturn, while at the same time increasing the numbers of "recipient" countries, and are now better able to invest more of their own resources to benefit and protect their own citizens. In this climate, global health investments in programs and innovations must be better targeted and better informed by strategic information more than four-fold from US $6.7 billion in 1993 to US $28.4 billion in 2011. Accompanying this investment was a striking decline in mortality in children under five years of age from 12.6 million deaths in 1990 to 6.6 deaths million in 2012. Improvements in health are not the only positive outcome of these investments. The same Commission concluded that global health is a smart investment - for every dollar invested in health, it can be expected that there will be a 10-20 fold return in economic benefit to society. Healthier people are more productive and contribute back to the economy. Healthier people also lower health care costs, naturally, by requiring less care. |
| `In' analytical Note | Harvard International Review Vol.35, No.4; Spring 2014: p.38-42 |
| Journal Source | Harvard International Review Vol.35, No.4; Spring 2014: p.38-42 |
| Key Words | HIV /AIDS ; Global Engagement ; Global Cooperation ; Global Health Spurred ; Global Health System ; Public Health System ; SARS ; Infectious Diseases ; Economic Downturn ; Strategic Information ; WHO ; Investment ; Polio Eradication |