Photo Scott Wallace/World Bank
Having just returned from the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), I was reminded of the tremendous progress the world has made in improving access to health care, especially when it comes to reproductive, maternal, and child health.
When the first ICPD conference was held 25 years ago, fertility was especially high in less developed, lower income countries. The total fertility rate for the South Asia, Middle East, and Latin America regions was nearly 4 births per women. In sub-Saharan Africa, it was even higher with over 6 births per woman. Similarly, the burden of maternal mortality in the region was highest at an estimated 920 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, followed by South Asia with 461 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
ABSTRACT
Despite these multiple benefits, the majority of developing countries have yet to seize the growth and development opportunities offered by high-performing health financing. Major coverage gaps for essential health services persist; for those who receive services, coverage is too often ineffective, as the quality of services is low. To expand equitable coverage with both quality services and financial protection, the overall levels of health spending, the mix of revenue sources, pooling, and the efficient and equitable use of resources matter. This report identifies critical health financing constraints.
COMPLETE REPORT IN ENGLISH
Source: World Bank – 27.06.2019
By Chloe Cho and Jason Lakin, International Budget Partnership and Ulla Griffiths, UNICEF
Significant progress has been made in the accessibility and coverage of vaccination globally, but challenges remain. Lack of coordination, conflicting priorities and poor public financial management systems can undermine the impact of investments and benefits of immunization. Accordingly, one of the critical questions in immunization financing is how much is being spent.
This brief explores immunization spending, drawing on budget data from BOOST. Our objective was to look at the “budget credibility” of specific line items.
Source: IBP – 10.12.2019
Paolo De Renzio, International Budget Partnership
Nolan, A., R. O’Connell and C. Harvey (eds.) (2013). Human Rights and Public Finance. Budgets and the Promotion of Economic and Social Rights. Portland, OR: Hart Publishing.
Balakrishnan, R. and D. Elson (eds.) (2011). Economic Policy and Human Rights. Holding Governments to Account. London and New York: Zed Books.
The words ‘public finance’ and ‘government budget’ tend to call to mind images of men in grey suits, large books full of numbers and a sense of boredom. Yet, raising and spending public resources is among the most important and influential functions that governments play, and one that has important consequences on people’s well-being, including how much tax they pay and what services they get. In general, public debates around public finance and government budgets focus on dry arguments about levels of public debt and fiscal deficits, the possible reactions of financial markets to government policies, and the impact that such policies will have on economic growth. It’s no mystery, then, that regular citizens are usually not active and engaged in such debates, despite the impact that choices made during the budget process can have on their everyday lives. Just think of the austerity policies adopted by – or imposed on – a large number of governments in the aftermath of the global financial crisis that started about a decade ago, and their impact on levels of poverty and inequality.
As nations commit to achieving universal health coverage by 2030, there is a growing acknowledgement that access to services is not enough. Improvement in health care delivery requires a deliberate focus on the quality of health services, which involves providing effective, safe, people-centered care that is timely, equitable, integrated and efficient.
This first-ever joint global report from World Health Organization (WHO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank Group makes clear that poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels.
