Tracking Development Assistance for Health: A Comparative Study of the 29 Development Assistance Committee Countries, 2011-2019.

Shuhei Nomura,Aya Ishizuka,Kenji Shibuya,Haruka Sakamoto

doi:10.3390/ijerph18168519

Abstract

Development assistance for health (DAH) is an important part of financing healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. We estimated the gross disbursement of DAH of the 29 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2011–2019; and clarified its flows, including aid type, channel, target region, and target health focus area. Data from the OECD iLibrary were used. The DAH definition was based on the OECD sector classification. For core funding to non-health-specific multilateral agencies, we estimated DAH and its flows based on the OECD methodology for calculating imputed multilateral official development assistance (ODA). The total amount of DAH for all countries combined was 18.5 billion USD in 2019, at 17.4 USD per capita, with the 2011–2019 average of 19.7 billion USD. The average share of DAH in ODA for the 29 countries was about 7.9% in 2019. Between 2011 and 2019, most DAC countries allocated approximately 60% of their DAH to primary health care, with the remaining 40% allocated to health system strengthening. We expect that the estimates of this study will help DAC member countries strategize future DAH wisely, efficiently, and effectively while ensuring transparency.

Highlights

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has demonstrated the importance of a resilient health system and universal health coverage (UHC) in ensuring equitable access to health, especially at times of emergency
2019 Group of 20 (G20) Summit and Ministerial Meetings in Osaka, Japan [3], declared a shared understanding of the importance of UHC financing in developing countries, along with noting the importance of sustainable financing for health [4]. This shared understanding encourages further investment in primary health care (PHC) services by promoting UHC through the preferential use of fair and equitable domestic funding, while suggesting that the Development assistance for health (DAH) should be strategically mobilized in areas that cannot be
The objective of this paper is to present an overview of the DAH implemented by the member countries of OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) by estimating the gross disbursement of DAH of the 29 DAC member countries for 2011–2019 and clarifying its flows, including aid type, channel, target region, and target health focus area

Summary

Introduction

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has demonstrated the importance of a resilient health system and universal health coverage (UHC) in ensuring equitable access to health, especially at times of emergency. Donor countries have utilized Development Assistance for Health (DAH). 2019 Group of 20 (G20) Summit and Ministerial Meetings in Osaka, Japan [3], declared a shared understanding of the importance of UHC financing in developing countries, along with noting the importance of sustainable financing for health [4]. This shared understanding encourages further investment in primary health care (PHC) services by promoting UHC through the preferential use of fair and equitable domestic funding, while suggesting that the DAH should be strategically mobilized in areas that cannot be 4.0/).

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