Developing country governments and aid agencies face difficult decisions on how best
to allocate their finite resources. Investments in many different sectors – including
education, water and sanitation, transportation, and health – can all reap social and
economic benefits. This report focuses specifically on the health sector. It presents
compelling evidence of the value of scaling-up health investments. The economic
case for increasing these investments in health has never been stronger.
Having made progress in reducing maternal and child mortality, and deaths from
infectious diseases, it is essential that policymakers do not become complacent.
These gains will be quickly reversed without sustained health investments. Scaled-up
investments will be needed to tackle the emerging non-communicable disease (NCD)
burden and to achieve universal health coverage (UHC).