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Project completed as of 2001 |
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Commission on Macroeconomics and Health
The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) was launched by WHO Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland in January 2000. Over a two-year period, the Commission analyzed the impact of health on development and examined the appropriate modalities through which health related investments could have a positive impact on economic growth and equity in developing countries. It sought to recommend a set of measures designed to maximize the poverty reduction and economic development benefits of health sector investment.
The CMH was composed of the Members, six Working Groups, and the Secretariat. The chair of the Commission was Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs of Harvard's Center for International Development (now at Columbia University's Earth Institute). The Members, Chair, Senior Economist, and Executive Secretary of the Commission were appointed by the WHO Secretary-General. Commission members included eighteen of the world's leading economists and policymakers from academia, governments, and international agencies. Among the members were former ministers of finance, representatives from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the Economic Commission on Africa, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The Commission received financial support from governmental agencies and foundations. They were observers at the CMH meetings, following the progress of the Commission. As of September 2000, the following had contributed to the work of the CMH: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID-U.K. Government, the Norwegian Government, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Swedish Government, and the United Nations Foundation.
For more background on the creation of CMH, see here.
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The CMH, in consultation with partners, established six Working Groups to assess critically and, where appropriate, extend the evidence base pertaining to its assigned issue. Working Group members included CMH Members, staff of various international agencies (WHO, World Bank, IMF, UNDP, etc.) and experts from governments, academic institutions, NGOs, and the private sector. Working Groups took stock of the existing knowledge base in order to identify implications for policy rather than generate new knowledge. The groups were expected to consult widely with developing country policy makers and professionals as part of their work.
The CMH’s work on the different subject areas specified in the Commission’s Terms of Reference (TOR) were undertaken by the six Working Groups. The titles of the Working Groups and their subjects are as follows:
Overview | Working Groups | Final Report | Contact
The work of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health culminated in December 2001 with the publication of "Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development" by the World Health Organization. Chiefly authored by Commission Chair Jeffrey D. Sachs, the report consolidated the findings of the Commission's working groups and offered a new strategy for investing in health for economic development (especially in the world's poorest countries) based upon a new global partnership of the developing and developed countries. The report was presented to the world's Ministers of Health at the 2002 World Health Assembly.
Overview
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The Commission completed its work in 2001 with the release of its final report. For updated information about this topic, please visit the WHO Macroeconomics and Health page.
Overview
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© 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Last revised 10/31/2007