Basic services can work against poverty but are usually elusive, shows the latest World Development Report
• Developing countries devote more than a third of their budgets on education, healthcare, water and sanitation services, but little is actually spent on the poor
• The poor often pay more than the rich for the same goods and travel longer distances to avail basic services
• India's richest fifth receives thrice the curative healthcare subsidy of the poorest fifth
• Travel to the nearest primary school in Mali at 8 kilometres (km) or the nearest medical facility in Chad at 23 km are unaffordable although the service is free
• A Mexican programme giving cash to the poor for visiting a clinic and sending their children to school reduced illness among children by 20 per cent and increased secondary enrolment by 5 to 8 per cent
Source: World Development Report 2004, The World Bank Group, Washington
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