Editing International development (section)

====Health====
{{See also|Public health|Reproductive health}}

This is provision of access to quality [[healthcare]] to the population in an efficient and consistent manner and according to their needs. The standard and level of provision that is acceptable or appropriate depends on many factors and is highly specific to country and location. For example, in a large [[city]] (whether in a 'developing' country or not), it is appropriate and often practical to provide a high standard [[hospital]] which can offer a full range of treatments; in a remote [[rural]] community it may be more appropriate and practical to provide a visiting [[healthworker]] on a periodic basis, possibly with a rural [[clinic]] serving several different communities.

The provision of access to healthcare is both an engineering challenge as it requires [[infrastructure]] such as hospitals and transport systems and an education challenge as it requires qualified healthworkers and educated consumers.

The fourth Millennium Development Goal is to ''reduce by two thirds the [[Child mortality|mortality rate]] among children under five''.

The fifth Millennium Development Goal is to ''reduce by three quarters the [[maternal death|maternal mortality ratio]]''.

The sixth Millennium Development Goal is to ''halt and begin to reverse the spread of [[HIV/AIDS]]'' and to ''halt and begin to reverse the incidence of [[malaria]] and other major [[disease]]s''.

Reaching these goals is also a management challenge. Health services need to make the best use of limited resources while providing the same quality of care to every man, woman and child everywhere. Achieving this level of services requires innovation, quality improvement and expansion of public health services and programs. The main goal is to make public health truly public.

Examples of organizations working in health are:
* [[World Health Organization]]
* [[Partners in Health]]
* [[Results for Development Institute]]
* [[Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization]]