Coordination of Macroeconomics & Health

Investing in health, particularly the health of the poor people, is central to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS). Health is central to creating and sustaining the capabilities that the poor need to escape from poverty. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals set challenging, specific targets requiring urgent action and international cooperation for their achievement.

The WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) consolidated the evidence for greater investment in health and set out an agenda for action at global and national levels. Before the CMH Report, economic wealth was taken as the driver of health: "As people get wealthier, they will get healthier". After the CMH evidence, health is being understood as the driver of poverty reduction. A well-planned strategy for health investments will accelerate social and economic growth. The Coordination of Macroeconomics and Health program, building upon the report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, aims to support countries achieve the MDGs. It has three core themes:

focus on the poor by identifying cross sectoral strategies and cost effective options that will sustain improved health outcomes;

strengthen commitments to increased financial investment in health; and
minimize non financial constraints to the absorption of greater investments by increasing efficiency and effectiveness.

The program encourages and helps countries to prepare long term multi-sectoral investment plans, secure financing for both further preparation and for implementation of the investment plans; and provide technical support to countries for their plans in coordination with other agencies.

The program recommends the formation of a National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health or other appropriate institutional arrangements to coordinate the task of scaling up health interventions through: assessing health priorities, establishing a scaling up strategy, working together with other health related sectors, ensuring a sound macroeconomics framework, and preparing an epidemiological baseline, operational targets, and financing plan.

The key terms in CMH are investing in health for development, effective partnerships, innovative funding mechanisms, effective frameworks, inter-sectoral collaborations, and close-to-client systems.