As a lead-in its participation in the Council of Science Editors' Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development, PLoS Medicine asked a number of commentators which single intervention would do the most to improve the health of those living on less than $1 per day? Popular responses included generally increasing socioeconomic status, securing food supplies, and empowering women. Here are a few other standout answers:
Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the United Nations Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals, Earth Institute, New York, New York, United States of America
In tropical Africa, a mass distribution of free long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to fight malaria accompanied by free access to artemisinin-based combination anti-malaria medicines. In other parts of the world, the situation will be different. I should add that I've spent years objecting to posing the question this way, since at low cost we could achieve major health advances through more comprehensive approaches.
Davidson Gwatkin, Consultant on Health and Poverty, Washington, D. C., United States of America
The health of the world's poor would be best served by a series of revolutions that bring into power national leaderships that are centrally concerned about the well-being of disadvantaged groups within their borders.
Kelley Lee, Centre on Global Change and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
A genuine commitment by industrialised countries to fair trade and, in particular, to end the destructive impact of agricultural subsidies on the livelihoods of the poor, would greatly enhance household incomes, food security and thus widespread improvements in the health of the poor.
Solomon Benatar, Professor of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Only when (and if) the “haves” develop genuine empathy for the “have-nots,” and come to acknowledge their own long-term interdependence with all other humans, will the global economy be improved to any significant advantage for the desperately poor.