Injecting Life into the World Economy

As the world looks to South Korea next month, there is one vital question that must be posed as G20 leaders seek solutions to inject new life into the global economy. How can we have any hope of achieving and sustaining economic growth without improving the survival rate of the next generation? And if tackling the leading killer of children is imminently achievable, will save millions of children's lives each year and promises an impressive return on investment, isn't there both a moral and an economic imperative to do so?

The mutually reinforcing ties between improved health outcomes and economic prosperity are well documented - which is why efforts to solve the latter without a plan to improve the former are self-defeating. According to a 2004 paper published by David Bloom in World Development, a 1-year increase in life expectancy improves labor productivity by four percent. And research by Hans Rosling at the Karolinksa Institute demonstrates that decreasing child mortality offers the best hope of lifting countries out of poverty, and stabilizing population growth over the long-term¬.

There is a disease for which prevention offers a dramatic and far-reaching opportunity for return on investment, both for individual countries and for the global economy: Pneumonia.

You may be surprised to learn that pneumonia is the world's leading killer of children, claiming a young life every 20 seconds. It kills more children annually than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Yet it can be treated with antibiotics that cost less than US $1, and in many cases prevented entirely with a safe and effective vaccinenow available to developing countrieson an unprecedented timeline and at prices their governments can afford.

Allowing young children to suffer and often die from preventable diseases such as pneumonia not only denies children a fair shot at life, but robs families of their meager earnings, and redirects community resources away from economic progress. Alternatively, investing in effective health interventions-particularly the protection afforded young children by immunization against the leading causes of death, including pneumonia-can dramatically improve the economic potential of individuals, families and communities in the developing world. And it's easy to see why.

A sick child is unable to attend school, help with the family crops or animals, tend to household chores, or care for siblings. Her parents will divert their time and very limited income to caring for her, undertaking long journeys fortreatment, and purchasing medicines that are beyond their means. Her local health clinic will likely be overrun with children who also suffer from preventable infectious diseases. And her parents, knowing she and her siblings have a high likelihood of dying before the age of five because children dying in the developing world is a fact of life, will continue to bear children in hopes that some will survive- all of which perpetuates the same cycle, and keeping families, communities and entire countries mired in poverty.

But the cycle can be broken. Brazil, for example, took lessons and momentum from its successful smallpox eradication campaign to better coordinate their broader national health efforts, take on other diseases, improve both the life expectancy and the quality of life for their citizens and ultimately grow their economy.

As the world's most powerful decision makers, world leadershave the power to prioritize efforts to wipe out the leading - and most preventable - killers of children. Defeating pneumonia will offer a huge step toward achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 - a two-thirds reduction in child mortality -and helping to remove one obstacle for countries desperately struggling to achieve economic stability.

Fittingly, the G20 meeting coincides with the second annual World Pneumonia Day. There is an opportunity here for those who have the power to make financial commitments to health infrastructure to prioritize pneumonia prevention, and in doing so, realize long term health and economic development goals. There is no greater or more far-reaching return on investment than when we rededicate ourselves to every country's most important resource: people.