The Lancet  
Dec 07, 2013  Volume 382  Number 9908  p1857 – 1956  e33 – 40
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Editorial
The global crisis of severe acute malnutrition in children
The Lancet
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19 million children younger than 5 years had severe acute malnutrition (SAM) worldwide in 2011, most of whom lived in Africa and southeast Asia. Furthermore, more than 7% of all deaths in this age group were attributable to this disorder. These shocking numbers—calculated as part of the 2013 Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Nutrition—highlight how seriously the global problem of SAM should be taken. Therefore, the newly released WHO guidelines for the management of SAM in young children, to replace those produced in 1999, should be welcomed as a step in the right direction.

Comment
Investing in health: why, what, and three reflections
Richard Horton, Selina Lo
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When Dean Jamison proposed in 2012 that he and Lawrence Summers should reprise their work on investing in health—their 1993 World Development Report (WDR)1 remains the only World Bank annual publication dedicated to health—it seemed a huge and daunting task. WDR 1993, as it came to be known, is surrounded in global health mythology. For some, it was a milestone in making the case for health to heads of state and finance ministers. For others, it opened the door to private sector colonisation of health care, a door that, once opened, could never be closed again.

Reinvesting in health post-2015
Hillevi Engström, Pe Thet Khin, Awa Coll-Seck, Rasmus Helveg Petersen, Anarfi Asamoa-Baah, Graça Machel, Richard Sezibera, Joy Phumaphi, Ariel Pablos-Mendes, Ursula Müller, Lambert Grijns, Jasmine Whitbread, Lola Dare, Ramanan Laxminarayan, John E Lange, Anders Nordström
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During the past few years we have jointly forged a strong case for health and its links to sustainable development in the post-2015 agenda, with an overarching goal that seeks to maximise health at all stages of life, and with universal health coverage and access as the key means to its achievement. We have acknowledged the need to accelerate progress on the current Millennium Development Goals; to broaden the agenda to encompass non-communicable diseases; and to give more prominence to sexual and reproductive health, with particular emphasis on the health of adolescents.

Time for even greater ambition in global health
Jim Yong Kim
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Every so often, significant global trends can be traced back to a source. The 1993 World Development Report (WDR)1 was such a catalyst in global health and development policy, demonstrating to finance ministers, economists, and philanthropists that health is an investment with positive economic returns—and not simply a drain on scarce resources. The report helped set the stage for a major scale-up of health investments at global, regional, and national levels.

Investing in health: progress but hard choices remain
Margaret Chan
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The world has changed radically since the World Development Report (WDR) Investing in Health1 was published 20 years ago, so it is valuable and timely to look ahead once again. The Lancet Commission’s optimistic report on investing in health2 confirms my view that the best times for public health are still ahead of us.

Towards a more robust investment framework for health
Helen Clark
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On the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Development Report (WDR),1 the report of the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health reaffirms that investing in health is a strategic investment with enormous economic returns.2 In recognition of the intrinsic value of health, the Commission used a “full income” approach to demonstrate an even higher total return from health investments than previously calculated. Measuring economic and intrinsic values together clearly shows that investments in health are investments in human development—in enlarging people’s choices, freedoms, and capabilities to lead lives they value.

A grand convergence and a historic opportunity
Mark Dybul
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The 1993 World Development Report (WDR)1 was a landmark publication: it put health squarely on the radar as a mainstream development opportunity. WDR 1993 made the important linkage between health gains and economic development, and it did so with arguments, metrics, and an audience that would have a substantial impact on how the world’s decision makers prioritised and financed health.

The Lancet Commissions – Global health 2035: a world converging within a generation
Dean T Jamison, Lawrence H Summers, George Alleyne, Kenneth J Arrow, Seth Berkley, Agnes Binagwaho, Flavia Bustreo, David Evans, Richard G A Feachem, Julio Frenk, Gargee Ghosh, Sue J Goldie, Yan Guo, Sanjeev Gupta, Richard Horton, Margaret E Kruk, Adel Mahmoud, Linah K Mohohlo, Mthuli Ncube, Ariel Pablos-Mendez, K Srinath Reddy, Helen Saxenian, Agnes Soucat, Karene H Ulltveit-Moe, Gavin Yamey
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2962105-4/fulltext
Executive summary
Prompted by the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Development Report, a Lancet Commission revisited the case for investment in health and developed a new investment framework to achieve dramatic health gains by 2035. Our report has four key messages, each accompanied by opportunities for action by national governments of low-income and middle-income countries and by the international community.