The economy and health

The interrelationships between sectors in an economy (especially between the health sector, on one hand, and the rest of the economy, on the other hand) are often ignored when many developing countries strive to achieve some general socioeconomic as well as specific sectoral goals. Macroeconomic policies adopted in developing countries, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa, to deal with the economic crisis failed to take adequate measures to protect the health of the people. Policy makers and the planners have contributed to the problems of the health sector by not devising necessary built-in measures to mitigate the negative impact of macroeconomic and sectoral policies on health. The paper attempts to bring into focus the linkages between the economy and the health sector and to proffer to policy makers and planners, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa, what should be done in future to minimize the negative impact of macro and sectoral policies on health.