Business as a Partner in Strengthening Public Health Systems in Developing Countries: An Agenda for Action

Abstract

While health conditions have improved for millions of people around the world over the past few decades, vast numbers of men, women and children are still dying from preventable causes, enduring the debilitating effects of treatable physical and mental ailments, facing destitution as a result of medical bills or lost incomes resulting from illness and injury, and dealing with social stigma and isolation resulting from fear and ignorance about certain diseases. The quality, affordability and reach of public health systems in the countries and communities where these people live are the crucial foundation on which either good or bad health, and linked to this economic security and quality of life, are built. Although personal genetics, behavior and living conditions all play an important role, it is access to reliable and affordable health services, ranging from prevention and diagnosis, to treatment, care and impact mitigation, that makes the difference between hope and despair for millions of people.