Is global health the most pressing problem to work on?

Abstract

Every year around ten million people in poorer countries die of illnesses that can be very cheaply prevented or managed, including malaria, HIV, tuberculosis and diarrhoea. In many cases these diseases or their impacts can be largely eliminated with cheap technologies that are known to work and have existed for decades. Over the last 60 years, death rates from several of these diseases have been more than halved, suggesting particularly clear ways to make progress. In our full ‘problem profile on health in poor countries’ we cover: The main reasons for and against thinking that this is the most pressing problem to work on.