[The Lancet Commissions] A Lancet Commission on the Health and Poverty Alleviation Initiative in China

Poverty alleviation is a pressing global challenge that is intricately linked with health, as emphasised by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2019, out-of-pocket health expenditure—health-care costs paid directly by individuals or households rather than covered by insurance or other third-party payers—pushed an additional 344 million people into poverty globally. In 2020, 724 million people were living in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than US$2·15 per person per day at 20