Global health gap widens says World Bank

Researchers at the World Bank have warned that health policies that put the emphasis on tackling non-communicable diseases among elderly people rather than on communicable diseases among younger people risk widening the global health gap between the richest and poorest countries. They say that a shift towards concentrating on non-communicable diseases benefits the rich more than the poor.

The team, who reported their findings in last week's Lancet (1999;354:586-9), said that global indicators that show …