Question

Topic: Health and the Economy

In approx. 200 words, post your analysis of one of the following topics:

1) The two-dimensional relationship between health and economic development

2) The economic consequences of ill health

3) The links between nutrition, health, disease and productivity

4) The economic consequences of some particular health burdens

Be careful to consider the World Bank Report -- Consider the proposal that "Health Results in Wealth," rather than "Wealth Requires Health."

Answer 1

The economic consequences of ill health include the impact of ill-health on the income of a household or the income or profit of a firm. The other impact can be at the macroeconomic level, including the aggregate impact of the burden of a disease on a country’s current and future gross domestic product (GDP). Thus "Health Results in Wealth," rather than "Wealth Requires Health as a healthy workforce in an organization can contribute to the economic growth of the organization and hence the country at large. The World Bank study Voices of the poor highlights the issue; how ill- health leads to poverty and poverty leads to ill health.