World Health Organization Commission on Macroeconomics and Health Receives $1 Million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

BOSTON -- The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) will expand its work in improving public health with a recent gift of $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The CMH, launched by the Director General of the World Health Organization in January 2000, studies the intricate tie between health status and poverty reduction and recommends health measures that minimize poverty and maximize economic development.

Specifically, the funds will be used to strengthen health activities that benefit the global society, targeted interventions to improve the health of people in low-income countries, and strategies to organize global initiatives to control HIV, malaria, and TB. The funds also will be used to bring local experts from various disciplines together to discuss best practices and approaches to overcoming constraints to disease control in low-income countries.

The CMH work supported by the grant will be led by public health specialists and economists based at the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University and the Institute of Social and Preventative Medicine at the University of Lausanne.

The Commission, chaired by Harvard's Professor Jeffrey Sachs, brings together 17 of the world's leading economists and policymakers from academia, governments, and international agencies. Among the members are former ministers of finance, representatives from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations Development Program, the Economic Commission on Africa, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.