ABSTRACT
The core objectives of many Bank-financed health projects are to improve maternal and child health, family planning, and primary health services. Throughout the years, the Bank has helped strengthen health, nutrition, and population policies and services in some 92 countries worldwide. The framework suggests that the likely impact of Bank, or any other international, assistance on health outcomes is far from direct. The major correlates of health are income; education; the quality of the environment, including access to safe housing, clean water, and sanitation; and individual and community practices related to nutrition, sanitation, reproduction, and alcohol and tobacco use. Only 25 percent of health projects achieved their institutional development objectives. Bank support has helped expand access to basic health services, sponsored training for service providers, and provided other important inputs to basic health services. The Bank also tends not to evaluate effectively the institutional and organizational environment that governs capacity weaknesses.
