The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health
This paper presents a survey of the theory and the evidence on the economic impact of investing in child health. It shows that investing in the health of children is justified not only because it fulfills a basic human right, but also because it is...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/05/4067559/economic-benefits-investing-child-health http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13789 |
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okr-10986-137892021-04-23T14:03:09Z The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health Belli, Paolo C. Appaix, Olivier ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME ARI BURDEN OF DISEASE CHILD CARE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES CHILD MORBIDITY CHILD MORTALITY CHILD SURVIVAL DEATHS ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORY ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC VALUE EXTERNALITIES FAMILIES FAMILY PLANNING FORECASTS GDP GNP GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT GROWTH GROWTH POTENTIAL GROWTH RATE HEALTH CARE HEALTH CONDITIONS HEALTH EXPENDITURE HEALTH INDICATORS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH INVESTMENTS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH PROMOTION HEALTH STATUS HIGH FERTILITY HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN CAPITAL IMCI IMMUNIZATION IMMUNODEFICIENCY INCOME INCOME LEVELS INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATES INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF CHILDHOOD ILLNESS LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MACROECONOMICS MALARIA MORBIDITY MORTALITY NUTRITION PARASITES PER CAPITA INCOME POOR CHILDREN POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES PREGNANCY PREVENTABLE DISEASES PRIVATE SECTOR PROBABILITY PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC HEALTH RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS RETIREMENT SOCIAL INDICATORS TOBACCO TOBACCO USE TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNEMPLOYMENT VACCINATION This paper presents a survey of the theory and the evidence on the economic impact of investing in child health. It shows that investing in the health of children is justified not only because it fulfills a basic human right, but also because it is an investment with high social and private returns. A central theme of this paper is that the relationship that links child health with economically relevant dimensions is circular-poverty contributes to disease, and poor health contributes to perpetuating poverty. The available evidence shows that almost 11 million children die every year from largely preventable diseases, and it unveils what the principal determinants of child illness are. The vast majority of children who die belong to the more disadvantaged socioeconomic groups within each country. Furthermore, the literature identifies several interventions and programs that could significantly contribute to improved child health, particularly in the areas of nutrition, communicable disease prevention and control, and education. We intuitively understand that there is a huge potential for largely positive social and economic returns on child health investments. Yet quantitative estimation of these benefits is still at an early stage. First, the association between health interventions and their social and economic consequences is multidimensional and complex. Second, the return on investment is measurable only over the long term. Third, the return is not automatic, and its magnitude is highly context-specific. For these reasons, few studies, mostly in the area of nutrition or of immunization services, have attempted to develop a full cost-benefit analysis, or to provide a quantitative measure of the benefits attainable by investing in child health. Instead, most empirical studies have focused on one of the several potential intermediate benefits of investing in child health, such as improved cognitive ability, increased school participation and attainment, and the induced demographic changes, which can be measured with greater precision. 2013-06-05T18:16:50Z 2013-06-05T18:16:50Z 2003-05 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/05/4067559/economic-benefits-investing-child-health 1-932126-73-2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13789 English en_US HNP discussion paper series; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME ARI BURDEN OF DISEASE CHILD CARE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES CHILD MORBIDITY CHILD MORTALITY CHILD SURVIVAL DEATHS ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORY ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC VALUE EXTERNALITIES FAMILIES FAMILY PLANNING FORECASTS GDP GNP GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT GROWTH GROWTH POTENTIAL GROWTH RATE HEALTH CARE HEALTH CONDITIONS HEALTH EXPENDITURE HEALTH INDICATORS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH INVESTMENTS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH PROMOTION HEALTH STATUS HIGH FERTILITY HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN CAPITAL IMCI IMMUNIZATION IMMUNODEFICIENCY INCOME INCOME LEVELS INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATES INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF CHILDHOOD ILLNESS LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MACROECONOMICS MALARIA MORBIDITY MORTALITY NUTRITION PARASITES PER CAPITA INCOME POOR CHILDREN POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES PREGNANCY PREVENTABLE DISEASES PRIVATE SECTOR PROBABILITY PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC HEALTH RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS RETIREMENT SOCIAL INDICATORS TOBACCO TOBACCO USE TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNEMPLOYMENT VACCINATION |
| spellingShingle |
ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME ARI BURDEN OF DISEASE CHILD CARE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES CHILD MORBIDITY CHILD MORTALITY CHILD SURVIVAL DEATHS ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORY ECONOMIC IMPACT ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC VALUE EXTERNALITIES FAMILIES FAMILY PLANNING FORECASTS GDP GNP GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT GROWTH GROWTH POTENTIAL GROWTH RATE HEALTH CARE HEALTH CONDITIONS HEALTH EXPENDITURE HEALTH INDICATORS HEALTH INTERVENTIONS HEALTH INVESTMENTS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH PROMOTION HEALTH STATUS HIGH FERTILITY HOSPITALIZATION HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN CAPITAL IMCI IMMUNIZATION IMMUNODEFICIENCY INCOME INCOME LEVELS INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATES INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF CHILDHOOD ILLNESS LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVING STANDARDS MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MACROECONOMICS MALARIA MORBIDITY MORTALITY NUTRITION PARASITES PER CAPITA INCOME POOR CHILDREN POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES PREGNANCY PREVENTABLE DISEASES PRIVATE SECTOR PROBABILITY PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY PUBLIC HEALTH RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS RETIREMENT SOCIAL INDICATORS TOBACCO TOBACCO USE TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNEMPLOYMENT VACCINATION Belli, Paolo C. Appaix, Olivier The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health |
| relation |
HNP discussion paper series; |
| description |
This paper presents a survey of the
theory and the evidence on the economic impact of investing
in child health. It shows that investing in the health of
children is justified not only because it fulfills a basic
human right, but also because it is an investment with high
social and private returns. A central theme of this paper is
that the relationship that links child health with
economically relevant dimensions is circular-poverty
contributes to disease, and poor health contributes to
perpetuating poverty. The available evidence shows that
almost 11 million children die every year from largely
preventable diseases, and it unveils what the principal
determinants of child illness are. The vast majority of
children who die belong to the more disadvantaged
socioeconomic groups within each country. Furthermore, the
literature identifies several interventions and programs
that could significantly contribute to improved child
health, particularly in the areas of nutrition, communicable
disease prevention and control, and education. We
intuitively understand that there is a huge potential for
largely positive social and economic returns on child health
investments. Yet quantitative estimation of these benefits
is still at an early stage. First, the association between
health interventions and their social and economic
consequences is multidimensional and complex. Second, the
return on investment is measurable only over the long term.
Third, the return is not automatic, and its magnitude is
highly context-specific. For these reasons, few studies,
mostly in the area of nutrition or of immunization services,
have attempted to develop a full cost-benefit analysis, or
to provide a quantitative measure of the benefits attainable
by investing in child health. Instead, most empirical
studies have focused on one of the several potential
intermediate benefits of investing in child health, such as
improved cognitive ability, increased school participation
and attainment, and the induced demographic changes, which
can be measured with greater precision. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Working Paper |
| author |
Belli, Paolo C. Appaix, Olivier |
| author_facet |
Belli, Paolo C. Appaix, Olivier |
| author_sort |
Belli, Paolo C. |
| title |
The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health |
| title_short |
The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health |
| title_full |
The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health |
| title_fullStr |
The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Economic Benefits of Investing in Child Health |
| title_sort |
economic benefits of investing in child health |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/05/4067559/economic-benefits-investing-child-health http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13789 |
| _version_ |
1764424410552336384 |