The formation of human capital--the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lifetimes--is critical for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Human capital contributes not only to human development and employment but also to the long-term sustainability of a diversified economic growth model that is knowledge based and private sector driven. This approach is critical, given that income from oil and gas will eventually decline and that the nature of work is evolving in response to rapid technological changes, in turn demanding new skill sets. The GCC governments have demonstrated their strong political will for this shift: four of them are among the first countries to join the World Bank's Human Capital Project-a global effort to improve investments in people as measured by the Human Capital Index. The GCC countries face four main challenges:* Low levels of basic proficiency among schoolchildren* A mismatch between education and the labor market* A relatively high rate of adult mortality and morbidity* A unique labor market , in which wages in the public sector are more generous than in the private sector and government employment of nationals is virtually guaranteed. To address these challenges, this report outlines four strategies in a "whole-of-government" approach:* Investing in high-quality early childhood development* Preparing healthier, better educated, and skilled youth for the future* Enabling greater adult labor force participation* Creating an enabling environment for human capital formation. These strategies are based on best practices in other countries and feature some of the GCC countries' plans, including their national "Visions," to take their economies and societies further into the twenty-first century. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the GCC countries face additional challenges that may worsen some pre-existing vulnerabilities and erode human capital. In response, the GCC governments have taken multiple measures to protect their populations' health and their economies. Any country's decision to reopen its economy needs to closely consider public health consequences to avoid a resurgence of infections and any further erosion of its human capital. The COVID-19 crisis underscores that the need to accelerate and improve investment in human capital has never been greater. Once the GCC countries return to a "new normal," they will be in a position to achieve diversified and sustainable growth by adopting, and then tailoring, the strategies presented in this report.

South Asia Region (SAR) has decreased maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 65 percent between 1990 and 2013, which was the greatest progress among all world regions. Such achievement implores the question, What made SAR stand out against what is predicted by standard socioeconomic outcomes? Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health in South Asia: Drivers and Enablers identifies the interventions and factors that contributed to reducing MMR and improving maternal and reproductive health (MRH) outcomes in SAR. In this study, the analytical framework assumes that improving MRH outcomes is influenced by a multitude of forces from within and outside the health system and considers factors at the household and community levels, as well as interventions in other sectors and factors in the enabling environment. The analysis is based on a structured literature review of the interventions in SAR countries, relevant international experience, and review of the best available evidence from systematic reviews. The focus of the analysis is mainly on assessing the effectiveness of interventions. The findings from this study indicate that the most effective interventions that prevent maternal mortality are those that address the intra-partum stage - the point where most maternal deaths occur - and include improving skilled birth attendance coverage, increasing institutional delivery rates, and scaling up access to emergency obstetric care. There is also adequate evidence that investing in family planning to increase contraceptive use also played a key role during the inter-partum phase by preventing unwanted pregnancies and thus averting the risk of maternal mortality in SAR countries. Outside the programmatic interventions, the levels of household income, women's education, and completion of secondary education of girls were also strongly correlated with improved MRH outcomes. Also, there is strong evidence that health financing schemes - both demand and supply side - and conditional cash transfer programs were effective in increasing the uptake of MRH services. The study points out to many other interventions with different degrees of effectiveness. The study also identified four major reasons for why SAR achieved this progress in MMR reduction. The best practices and evidence of what works synthesized in this study provide an important way forward for low- and middle-income countries toward achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals

Provide a short description (no more than 350 characters, about 50 words) in simple, nontechnical language that aptly expresses the book's scope and theme. This study explores policy options based on evidence from international experience that will help Bangladesh improve the availability and skill-mix of its health workforce.

Bangladesh is undergoing a double transition-demographic and epidemiological. Increasing life expectancy and declining fertility entail a demographic transition fuelling a shift in the disease burden toward noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Yet due to absence of a robust routine health information system in the country, it is hard to accurately assess the disease burden and corresponding risk factors. So, using a wide range of sources, this book looks at the status of major NCDs in Bangladesh (and briefly in South Asia), touches on their economic impact, analyses their common risk factors, and assesses the health system's capacity to manage the disease transition. In a country where total health spending is low-$23 a head per year, two-thirds of it private-the main constraints on the health system are a weak regulatory framework; lack of strategic planning and coordination across sectors; lack of alignment between the goals of health strategy documents and the operational plans; a focus by the health system on treatment, not prevention; and a fragmented health service delivery system, leading to a lack of coordinated care critical for effectively managing NCDs. This book aims to help policy makers-inside and outside the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and its programme managers-to develop and implement effective and timely responses that reduce both population-level risk factors and the NCD burden in Bangladesh. It also outlines policy options and strategic priorities to help stimulate policy dialogue with stakeholders to tackle the NCD burden through strengthening health service provision, all articulated through a 'Policy Options Framework'. This framework is founded on the stewardship and regulatory role led by the health sector (represented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare), which supports two broad categories-population-based and individual-based policy interventions, which in turn support four pillars: multisectoral and health sector interventions (population-based), and clinical preventive and treatment services (individual-based).

Reliable information on how health service strategies affect the poor is in short supply. In an attempt to redress the imbalance, 'Improving Health Service Delivery in Developing Countries' presents evidence on strategies for strengthening health service delivery, based on systematic reviews of the literature, quantitative and qualitative analyses of existing data, and seven country case studies. The authors also explore how changes in coverage of different health services affect each other on the national level. Finally, the authors explain why setting international targets for health services has been not been successful and offer an alternative approach based on a specific country's experience. The book's findings are clear and hopeful: There are many ways to improve health services. Measuring change and using information to guide decisions and inform stakeholders are critically important for successful implementation. Asking difficult questions, using information intelligently, and involving key stakeholders and institutions are central to the "learning and doing" practices that underlie successful health service delivery.

Increasing life expectancy in South Asia is resulting in a demographic transition that can, under the right circumstances, yield dividends through more favorable dependency ratios for a time. With aging, the disease burden shifts toward noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) which can threaten healthy aging. However, securing the gains expected from the demographic dividend-where developing countries' working and nondependent population increases and per capita income thus rises- is both achievable and affordable through efficiently tacking NCDs with prevention and control efforts. This book looks primarily at cardiovascular disease (CVD) and tobacco use since they account for a disproportionate amount of the NCD burden-the focus is strategic, rather than comprehensive. The goal of this book is to encourage countries to develop, adopt, and implement effective and timely country and, where appropriate, regional responses that reduce both population-level risk factors and the NCD burden. The work develops (i) an NCD burden and risk factor profile for all countries and the region as a whole; (ii) a rationale for public policy and action for NCDs; (iii) a framework to guide the formulation of public policies and strategies for NCDs; (iv) a country profile, including capacity and ongoing NCD activities, as well as policy options and actions for NCDs that will help stimulate policy dialogue within and among countries; and (v) a regional strategy for NCD prevention and control where regional collaboration offers added value. The achievements of this book are (i) developing a framework for policy options to identify key areas for strategic country- and regional-level policy and actions; (ii) bringing together demographic and aging trends, disease and risk factor burden data, alongside analyses of capacities and accomplishments to tackle NCDs; and (iii) using these inputs to develop policy options for country and regional strategies.