http://www.gapminder.org/He doesn't mention Libya's IM rate, and I suppose it is because that country has been isolated by trade and other sanctions for many years. Libya, a desert country with oil, had lowest mortality in Africa for a long time and with five times the people of Mauritius. So were Iraqi mortality rates coming down leading up to 1991.
He does mention Mao leading the way in China, and that good health is more important than income in lowering mortality. "They can't buy health at the supermarket" and the Swede says investment in health care is a big payoff for any country. It's interesting to note that large corporations in the U.S. are now saying the health insurance industry is making American products uncompetitive on world markets.
Trade is good, yes, and we know that trade has been used as a weapon from imperialist times through the cold war and still a problem today with dated cold war attitudes still lingering in those countries with the most influence over trade.