PHM-Exch> Financing global health and global poverty

[Claudio Schuftan]

*Financing Global Health 2013: Transition in an Age of Austerity*

Financing Global Health 2013: Transition in an Age of Austeri-ty, IHME’s
fifth annual report on global health expenditure, depicts financing trends
that underline the resilience of de-velopment assistance for health.

This year’s updated estimates show that despite lackluster economic growth
and fiscal cutbacks in many developed countries, total assistance re-mained
steady, reaching an all-time high of $31.3 billion in

2013. While annual increases have leveled off since 2010, continued
international funding is a sign of the international development
community’s enduring support for global health.

The report also shows shifts in sources of financing. As funding from many
bilateral donors and development banks has de-clined, growth in funding
from the GAVI Alliance, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculo-sis and
Malaria, non-

governmental organizations, and the UK government is counter-acting these
cuts. Development assistance for different health issues is tracked up to
2011, revealing that the greatest in-crease in funding was for mater-nal,
newborn, and child health.

Full report

http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/sites/default/files/policy_report/2014/





*Global poverty could be up to a third higher than reported*



With over one billion people in the world living on less than $1.25 per
day, the World Bank aims to end 'extreme poverty' by 2030. But new research
suggests that global poverty figures could be underesti-mated by up to a
third, and calls for more robust measurement in the future.

The World Bank figures are widely used by the international communi-ty and
play a significant role in international strategies to reduce poverty.
Critics argue that its esti-mates are flawed because the

dollar a day' poverty line is too arbitrary, and insufficiently an-chored
to any specification of basic human needs.

Researchers at the University of Bristol looked at those living on the
Pacific island state of Vanuatu, taking into account not just their
finances but also shelter, sanitiza-tion, water, information, nutrition,
health and education to build up a more comprehensive picture of poverty,
deprivation and inequality.

The study, published today in the

Journal of Sociology, concludes that the World Bank is reporting a 'rosy'
picture because the poverty line is set too low due to its nar-row
definition.
See:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140410194646.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ftop_news%2Ftop_health+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Top+Health+News%29
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