Washington Post: Larry Summers: We must act on global health because millions of lives are at stake
Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot university professor at Harvard and former treasury secretary and director of the National Economic Council in the White House

“…The breadth of ambition embodied in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the associated 169 targets is truly inspiring and a tribute to the moral energy of many leaders in and out of government. But there is the risk that with so many priorities, there will be insufficient focus on the most important and achievable objectives. I was therefore excited when the Rockefeller Foundation asked me to work with them to develop a Declaration that a broad spectrum of economists could issue underscoring the importance of global health efforts. The 266 economists who have joined our declaration come from 44 countries and at least as many political and ideological perspectives. But they are united in their belief in the importance of expanding and improving health care globally. Our Declaration was published in The Lancet last week and is summarized in a full page New York Times ad that is running today. I hope the world listens. Millions of lives are at stake” (9/24).