PHM-Exch> Financing Global Health 2010: Development assistance and country spending in economic uncertainty

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
Date: Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 1:47 AM
crossposted from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org

*Financing Global Health 2010: *
* Development assistance and country spending in economic uncertainty

* *Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation - Seattle, WA: IHME, 2010.

*

Available online at: http://bit.ly/ewXYo0

 November 30, 2010–“…..Financing Global Health 2010: Development assistance
and country spending in economic uncertainty shows the continued rise in
development assistance for health globally and provides a comprehensive
picture of the total amount of health funding flowing from aid agencies,
governments, and private donors to developing countries.



It also shows the dramatic increase in health spending by developing
countries on their own health projects and the way development assistance
for health appears to affect those domestic funding decisions….”



The report provides a comprehensive picture of the total amount of health
funding between 1990 and 2008 from aid agencies and governments in 23
developed countries, multilateral institutions, and hundreds of nonprofit
groups and charities.



The report’s findings include:



·          Country governments and private donors are driving the increases
in development assistance for health. The US government and private donors
in the US made up one-half of all funding in 2008.

·          US-based NGOs have been hit hard by the economic downturn, and
the amount of health funding spent by them decreased 24% from 2009 to 2010.

·          Significant improvements in transparency make it easier to track
how health funds are being used. In 1990, 65% of all public health funding
from donor countries was considered “unspecified,” with no information
available about the primary recipient of the funds. In 2008, that fraction
had dropped to 1%. In the US, more than 30% of all funding was unspecified
as recently as 2007. By 2008, though, the US government reported detailed
information for 100% of its health assistance.

·          Spending on HIV/AIDS programs has continued to rise at a strong
rate, making HIV/AIDS the most funded of all health focus areas. Funding for
maternal, newborn, and child health received about half as much funding as
HIV/AIDS as of 2008.

·          Malaria and tuberculosis are often included with AIDS as top
priorities in combating infectious diseases, but both receive far less
funding than AIDS: $1.19 billion for malaria in 2008 and $0.83 billion for
tuberculosis. Funding for malaria and tuberculosis also appears to go to
countries that do not have large groups at risk for these diseases. For
example, of the 30 countries that receive the most malaria health funding
adjusted for disease burden, only three – Eritrea, Sao Tome and Principe,
and Swaziland – are located in sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is most
acute.

·          Despite much discussion about the need for general health sector
support, funding for that area has grown slowly since 2006. Funding for
noncommunicable diseases, another popular topic among global health
advocates, represents just 0.5% of all development assistance for health.

·         The commitment to health in the developing world grew dramatically
over the past two decades. Governments of developing countries increased
spending on health.

·         In countries whose governments receive significant donor funding,
development assistance for health appears to be partially replacing domestic
health spending instead of fully supplementing it. Conversely, in countries
that receive health funding mainly through NGOs, government health spending
appears to increase….”



*Content:
*Report Overview

Chapter 1: Tracking development assistance for health

Chapter 2: Distribution of development assistance for health

Chapter 3: Spending on health by developing country governments

Chapter 4: Impact on development assistance for health on country spending

Conclusion and References

Methods annex

Statistical annex
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