Integrating health into
poverty reduction strategies
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The
challenge:
developing and promoting the most effective health
strategies that contribute to reduction of poverty
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Poverty causes ill health
and ill health causes poverty. Poor people are more likely to be
ill, yet least able to access health care. Equally, ill health can
lead to destitution. The high cost of seeking medical care,
combined with a loss of work and income, can quickly create a
spiral of poverty.
At national level, the
burden of ill health shouldered by poor countries has been
massively underestimated. A growing body of evidence suggests that
it is impeding social and economic development. For example,
HIV-prevalence rates of 10 to 15 per cent – not uncommon – can
lead to a reduction in per capita GDP growth of 1 per cent per
year.
The reverse is also true.
For the individual, good health is an asset that allows learning,
work and play. At the national level, this translates into better
educational results, higher productivity and social development.
Health gains trigger economic growth and, if the benefits of that
growth are evenly distributed, this can lead to poverty reduction.
WHO’s
approach to Poverty and Health and the role of HDE
In Executive Board
paper 105/5, WHO sets out a rationale for action on health and poverty to guide
the work of the WHO secretariat and member states, and provide a
platform for collaboration with development partners.
The EB paper includes a
series of guiding principles which seek to reduce poverty and
promote human development by (1) improving and protecting the
health of the poor and (2) reducing the health gaps between rich
and poor. The paper recognizes that many of the determinants of
health depend on developments beyond the health sector and that,
as a result, a health strategy to reduce poverty should include
the following components:
- Acting on the determinants of
health by influencing development policy.
- Reducing risks through a broader
approach to public health.
- Focusing on the health problems
of the poor.
- Ensuring that health systems
serve the poor more effectively.
HDE was closely involved
with the drafting of the EB paper; the paper’s first component,
‘acting on the determinants of health by influencing development
policy’, relates to HDE’s mandate. HDE was created to
facilitate a process of institutional mainstreaming across WHO on
how health (and improving the health of the poor) can contribute to poverty reduction.
HDE also provides
technical inputs on health and poverty reduction to WHO management
and programmes and offers policy guidance, advice and technical
support to member countries, development partners, NGOs and civil
society.
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Introduction