More cash for GAVI, HIV and TB

Foreign funding for health projects in developing countries is still holding steady, a new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME),an independent research centre identifying the best strategies to build a healthier world at the University of Washington, has found.The findings were announced at the Centre for Global Development and published online as part of the fourth annual edition of IHME’s financing series, Financing Global Health 2012: The End of the Golden Age?

The research tracks development assistance for health from government aid agencies, multilateral donors and private foundations and charities. It explores funding trends over three periods: the “moderate-growth” period from 1990 to 2001, the “rapid-growth” period from 2001 to 2010, and the “no-growth” period from 2010 to 2012.  

In its key findings, it was discovered that many of developing countries with the highest disease burden did not receive the most health funding. For example low-income countries like Burundi, Guinea, Mali, and Niger,which are among the top 20 countries with a high malaria burden, were not among the top 20 recipients of malaria funding.

“For some diseases, there is a clear disconnect between funding and burden measured by both mortality and disability,” explains IHME Assistant Professor Michael Hanlon according to a press release on the organization’s websitewww.healthmetricsandevaluation.org. 

“These comparisons serve as a guide for policymakers to discuss, reassess, and improve upon their health spending.”

After reaching a historic high of $28.2 billion in 2010, development assistance for health dropped in 2011 and recovered in 2012. The strong growth in spending from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and UNICEF counterbalanced declines in health spending among other donors.

According to the release, Dr Christopher Murray, IHME Directorsays priority setting has become even more important as global health funding flat lines.

From 2011 to 2012, overall health spending channelled through government aid agencies dropped by 4.4%. Development assistance for health from the US, the largest donor, dropped by 3.3%, and health funding from France and Germany declined by 13% and 9.1%, respectively.

Among the six largest bilateral donors, only donations from the UK and Australia increased from 2011 to 2012.

With the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaching in 2015, policymakers will need to carefully assess the trends in resource flows to decide where and how spending can have the maximum impact on population health.

Other major findings from the report include:GAVI continued to have very strong rates of growth. In 2012, expenditure by GAVI reached an estimated $1.76 billion, a 41.9% increase over 2011.

 The sub-Saharan African region received the largest share of health funding. In 2010 (the most recent year for which recipient-level estimates are available), sub-Saharan Africa’s share was $8.1 billion, or 28.7% of total health funding.

Health funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and maternal, newborn, and child health continued to grow through 2010.

About IHME:

IHME is an independent research centre identifying the best strategies to build a healthier world. By measuring health, tracking program performance, finding ways to maximize health system impact, and developing innovative measurement systems, IHME provides a foundation for informed decision-making that ultimately will lead to better health for people worldwide.