2025-04-02
5 分钟The Economist.
Hi there, this is Jason Palmer,
co-host of The Intelligence, our daily news and current affairs show.
This is Editor's Picks,
where we take an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist and get someone with better diction than mine to read it aloud.
Have a listen.
Foreign aid is shrinking.
Rich countries are cutting their budgets for helping the world's poor,
partly because they need to spend more on defence and partly
because they suspect that aid does not work well.
To make the best use of a smaller pot,
aid agencies and recipients alike will have to prioritise.
One of the best approaches would be to concentrate more on public health and on funding mechanisms that have been proved to work.
Many people in poor countries lack basic health care and the cheapest life-saving medicines are extremely cheap,
so health aid can be wonderfully cost-effective.
On average, each dollar spent on vaccination yields a hefty $54 in returns.
Between 1974 and 2010,
health aid extended life expectancy across the developing world and saved a vast number of children from dying before the age of five.
This is not only good in itself,
it also contributes to future prosperity