After nearly a decade during which levels of external development assistance for health (DAH) stagnated, an encouraging rise has occurred in the volume of such assistance. Donors and developing countries are testing and implementing innovative approaches to the use of DAH, while simultaneously seeking ways to raise the effectiveness of existing streams of aid and more traditional financing mechanisms. In short, DAH has entered a dynamic phase that holds considerable promise.
Nevertheless, it continues to suffer from a broad range of disappointments: misuse and inefficiency in the deployment of funds, gaps in essential areas that require financing support, and weaknesses in institutional and management arrangements. Substantial room for improvement exists.
This chapter documents those recent trends, analyzes the effects and assesses the performance of DAH, and points to areas that require priority attention. In the first part, we present statistics on DAH, updating the World Development Report 1993 (World Bank 1993) and the report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH 2001). In the second part, we assess the performance of DAH. In the third part, we present recent innovations to underscore the current dynamic nature of such assistance. The chapter concludes with some suggestions on future directions.
Copyright © 2006, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank Group.