BMJ  2007;335:954 (10 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39388.507731.BE

Letters

Health in an unequal world

What about the needs of health workers in developing countries?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In their randomised trial showing reduced in-hospital mortality after improved management of children under 5 years with malaria, Biai et al concede that "we cannot distinguish between the effect of supervising the implementation of the guidelines and the effect of the financial incentive in reducing mortality."¹ But this crucial point was lost in the abstract—and in others' interpretations:

• The box summarising what the study adds—"In poor countries, small financial incentives can contribute to a dramatic decrease in in-hospital mortality"¹

• The latest headlines on bmj.com on 2 November 2007—"Financial incentives may hold key to cutting child malaria deaths"

• Editor's choice—"Mortality from malaria on the children's ward, once people's poverty was tackled head on, was just 5% in the intervention group and 10% for controls"²

• The accompanying editorial—"The extra pay was enough to enable staff to work efficiently."³

There was no mention of how the unequal hospital environment . . . [Full text of this article]

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