Education and Health as Joint Investments for Development
Health and education are closely related in economic development.3 On one
hand, greater health capital may improve the return to investments in education,
in part because health is an important factor in school attendance and in
the formal learning process of a child. A longer life raises the return to investments
in education; better health at any point during working life may in effect
lower the rate of depreciation of education capital. On the other hand, greater
education capital may improve the return to investments in health, because
many health programs rely on basic skills often learned at school, including
personal hygiene and sanitation, not to mention basic literacy and numeracy;
education is also needed for the formation and training of health personnel.
Finally, an improvement in productive efficiency from investments in education
raises the return on a lifesaving investment in health. Box 8.2 summarizes
the linkages between investments in health and education.
The past half century or so has witnessed unprecedented advances in
human capital. Health and education levels improved in both developed and