Better health is central to human happiness and well-being. It also contributes significantly to economic progress, as healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save more.
Many factors affect the state of health and the country's ability to provide quality health services for its people. Ministries of health are important actors, but so are other government departments, donor organizations, civil society groups, and communities themselves. For example: investment in roads can improve access to health services; Inflation targets may constrain health expenditure; And civil service reform can create opportunities - or limitations - to hire more health workers.
WHO's work on 'Health and Development' tries to understand these complex links. It is related to the improvement in health of development and poverty reduction, and conversely, with the impact of development policies on the achievement of health goals. In particular, it aims to build government support for high levels of investment in health and ensure that health is prioritized within overall economic and development plans. In this context, the 'Health and Development' work supports health policies that respond to the needs of the poorest groups. The WHO works with donors to ensure that health support is adequate, effective and targeted at priority health issues.
This website provides an update on WHO activities in the field of health and development, including information on recent publications, country work reports and training courses and capacity building activities.
