Countries at all levels of income have achieved great advances in health. Although an unaccepta- bly high proportion of children in the developing world—one in ten—die before reaching age 5, this number is less than half that of 1960. Declines in poverty have allowed households to increase con- sumption of the food, clean water, and shelter nec- essary for good health. Rising educational levels have meant that people are better able to apply new scientific knowledge to promote their own and their families' health. Health systems have met the demand for better health through an ex- panded supply of services that offer increasingly.
