Barely a fifth of the international aid given for health purposes is available for tackling global threats, a study reports today.
The findings follow the findings of a highly critical investigation into the world’s handling of the Ebola crisis in west Africa.
The World Health Organisation has promised to be better prepared for future crisis – and health issues are set to be discussed at a world summit on development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today.
According to a study in The Lancet, some 22 billion dollars worth of aid is given annually for health purposes.
Just 4.7 billion dollars of this is devoted to activity with global benefits, the researchers, who were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, say.
These include disease outbreak preparation, research on drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, and preparing for cross-border issues such as resistance to antibiotics and other drugs.
One of the analysts, Dr Marco Schäferhoff, Associate Director of SEEK Development in Berlin, Germany, said: “We should be investing in essential global functions, as these investments would benefit poor people wherever they live, including the poor within middle-income countries.
"At the same time, health aid to the world’s poorest countries must continue and donor countries should also ensure that vulnerable and marginalised populations in middle-income countries, such as ethnic minorities who suffer discrimination, refugees, and people who inject drugs, receive sufficient support.”
* WHO officials at the summit today called on countries to move towards universal health coverage.
How much donor financing for health is channelled to global versus country-specific aid functions? Lancet 13 July 2015 [abstract]
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