Health, Economic Development and Household Poverty

Sara Bennett is the Manager of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, based at the World Health Organization. Lucy Gilson is Professor of Health Policy and Systems at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Associate Professor at the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Anne Mills is Professor of Health Economics and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"The essays provide excellent documentation of the links between health, economic development, and poverty alleviation. Thanks to the lack of economic jargon and lesser reliance on quantitative methods, this work is accessible to a wide readership ranging from undergraduate students to researchers interested in international health and poverty reduction. It is required reading for policy makers and practitioners looking for innovative measures in health financing and service delivery that can better reach the poor. -- M. Q. Dao, Choice, 2008

• 1. Health, Economic Development and Household Poverty: The Role of the Health Sector Part A: Health, Development and Poverty 2. The Consequences of Population Health for Economic Performance 3. Illness and Labour Productivity: A Case Study from Rural Kenya Part B: The Effectiveness of Health Care Systems in Addressing the Needs of the Poor 4. Access and Equity: Evidence on the Extent to Which Health Services Address the Needs of the Poor 5. Illness, Health Service Costs and their Consequences for Households 6. Coping with the Costs of Illness: Vulnerability and Resilience among Poor Households in Urban Sri Lanka Part C: Restructuring Health Care Systems to Reach the Poor 7. Alternative Approaches to Extending Health Services to the Poorest 8. Targeting Services Towards the Poor: A Review of Targeting Mechanisms and their Effectiveness 9. Protecting the Poor from the Cost of Services through Health Financing Reform 10. Building Voice and Agency of Poor People in Health: Public Action within Health Systems 11. Improving Equity in Health Through Health Financing Reform: A Case Study of the Introduction of Universal Coverage in Thailand 12. Promoting Access, Financial Protection and Empowerment for the Poor: Vimo SEWA in India 13. Conclusions: From Evidence to Action