International
Financing for health update
At the very end of May, the High Level Task Force on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems released a set of recommendations for potential ways to raise new money to fill the gap in financing the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Launched in September 2008 at the UN Summit and led by Gordon Brown and Robert Zoellick, the President of the World Bank, the Taskforce has set out to make recommendations on the mix of financing mechanisms that could raise new funding in an efficient and effective manner.
While financing for global health has nearly doubled in the past decade, and remarkable progress has been made in reducing child mortality and expanding access to care and treatment for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, progress toward meeting the health MDGs remains off-track, especially in Africa.
Donor funding at its current levels will not be enough to turn this around: new, innovative ways of raising funds that are additional to current levels of development assistance are needed, and current mechanisms can be expanded. Among the array of options put forward by the Taskforce as options to mobilize and make better use of existing funds, the Taskforce is recommending that more countries consider solidarity levies on airline tickets and explore the feasibility of levies on tobacco or currency transactions.
ONE welcomes entrepreneurial thinking by major donors for how to raise new money and make better use of existing resources for health in developing countries. We look forward to future discussions on how these resources will be channeled and hope that the G8 seriously considers innovative financing as a way to increase the quantity and quality of aid.
-Lisa Fleisher
- Previous Post What We’re Reading 6/8/09
- Next Post What’s the question?
 |
 |
 |
About the Blog
The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.