Health and Development

Abstract

Better health leads to faster economic growth which in turn, leads to healthier populations. Historical studies have shown that a substantial proportion of today's economic wealth can be attributed directly to past achievements in the health sphere. Health contributes to human capital through higher productivity, securing labour supply, through skills and the savings that become available for investment in physical and intellectual capital. Poor health negatively influences labour market productivity as measured by earnings and wages. At the same time, life expectancy increases with income across countries, but at a rate that becomes progressively lower as income increases due to diminishing health returns to income. However, the relationship between wealth and health is not as straightforward as was previously thought. Rather, it seems to be a more complex and multidimensional one and factors other than wealth exist that also influence the health of populations.