At the September 1999 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF, ministers agreed that country-owned poverty reduction strategies should provide the basis of all World Bank and IMF concessional lending, and should guide the use of resources freed by debt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative. This strategy will be reflected in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), prepared by country authorities with broad participation of civil society. To guide countries in the preparation of their poverty-reduction strategies, the IMF and the World Bank have produced a PRSP Sourcebook. This is intended to be suggestive rather than prescriptive, and to be used selectively as a resource to provide information about possible approaches. A key theme is that "poverty" is be interpreted broadly to include, for example, human development outcomes--health and education--as well as money income. The presentation will focus on the chapter of the sourcebook devoted to health, the aim of which is to guide countries in designing policies aimed at improving the health of the poor, and in reducing the impoverishing effects of ill health. In this chapter, the lifecycle approach has proved a useful conceptual device for organizing material on risks, outcomes, interventions and the other proximate determinants of health at different stages of the lifecycle. The presentation will develop this theme, and show how the lifecycle has been embedded in the sourcebook into a broader analytical framework that links policies--through their impact on health systems, households and communities--to health outcomes amongst the poor.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Poverty,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.