The Financial Crisis and Global Health. 19/01/09

The challenge facing the world is to prevent an economic crisis becoming a social and a health crisis. There is widespread agreement that counter-cyclical public spending pro-vides a means of reviving economies. Aid will play a key role in providing a boost that many low-income countries cannot finance alone. The challenge is to ensure that spending is genuinely pro-poor and that, where possible, it has a positive impact on health. Infrastructure investments provide one route, but other opportunities for safe-guarding lives and income can also be identified.