Resource information
This paper reviews the contribution of
the World Bank's transport lending portfolio to health
outcomes, as background for the Independent Evaluation
Group's (IEG) evaluation of the Bank's support for
health, nutrition and population (HNP). Over the past decade
(FY97-06), the World Bank committed nearly $28 billion to
229 new transport projects managed by the Transport Sector
Board (TSB). Specifically, the paper reviews the extent to
which these projects: cite potential health benefits or
risks in design documents; include specific objectives with
respect to improving health outcomes or mitigating health
risks; propose environmental improvements that are likely to
provide health benefits; target transport services, and both
health and behavioral outcomes to the poor; and plans to
collect evidence on changes in health outcomes as a result
of transport interventions. For completed projects, it
assesses the extent to which expected health benefits or
objectives have been achieved. This review of health
benefits in the transport lending portfolio over the past
decade shows that in the majority of the cases the focus has
been on improvements in road safety, as measured by a
reduction in the fatality or injury rates. Among the 55
projects with health related objectives, 82 percent had
objectives to improve road safety, while only 7 percent had
objectives to improve safety of other modes of transport and
only 2 percent each had HIV/AIDS prevention or air quality
improvement objectives.
