This paper looks at the role of the World Bank in promoting and developing health policies. Development banks have a key role in health policy, unlike other development agencies they have a broader outlook, viewing the health sector in the context of, for example, infrastructure or water systems. They are also used to dealing with health concerns which span broad regions and it has a special capacity to deal with issues of systematic inefficiency and corruption in the health-sector. Viewing the World Bank in this light this paper offers a positive view of its future role in global health policy.