The Commission on Investing in Health

In 1993, the World Bank published the World Development Report (WDR 1993), Investing in Health, under the leadership of chief economist Lawrence H. Summers. One of the most widely cited publications in the Bank’s history, the report demonstrated that well-chosen, evidence-based health expenditures were an investment not only in health, but also in economic prosperity. It also argued for additional resources to address high-burden diseases.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of WDR 1993, the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health was launched in December 2012. It was chaired by Lawrence H. Summers, and co-chaired by Dean T. Jamison, lead author of WDR 1993. For the first report of the Commission on Investing in Health (CIH 1.0), the Commissioners were an independent group of 25 leading economists and global health experts from around the world, listed below.