Health Affordable or free health care is necessary for development. In poor countries the percentage of children who die under the age of five is much higher than in rich countries. HIV is now the single greatest threat to future economic development in Africa. Callisto Madavo, vice-president of the World Bank, Africa region 1999. Food and education Affordable, secure food supplies are vital.
Malnutrition causes severe health problems, and can also affect education.
Without education it is difficult to escape from poverty. This becomes a vicious circle people who live in poverty cannot afford to send their children to school. When we measure poverty we find differences between the level experienced by men or boys, and women or girls. A child born in an industrialised country will add more to pollution over his or her lifetime than 30-50 children born in the Third World. However, the third world child is likely to experience the consequences of pollution in a much more devastating way.