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Begin New Search Topic Health Content Type Policy Brief Publishing Institution Center for Global Development

1. Estimating Japan’s Return on Investment from an Ambitious Program to Incentivize New Antibiotics

Author:
Rachel Silverman and Adrian Towse
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Anti-microbial drugs form the backbone of modern medicine. Yet their lifespan is naturally limited; over time, use of these drugs selects for mutations that survive exposure those same drugs, driving “anti-microbial resistance,” or AMR. Already, drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 23,210 Japanese citizens every year. In the absence of sufficient research and development (R&D) investment for new antimicrobials, deaths from drug-resistant infections could increase dramatically in the coming decade. To address this growing crisis and solve market failures that prevent the development of new antibiotics, the government of Japan is considering a new program that would provide minimum guaranteed revenue to the successful developers of new antibiotics. In this note, we present the results of a modelling exercise to estimate the likely return on investment (ROI) from such a program, assuming it is paired with complementary and proportionate efforts from Japan’s G7 partners. The results are necessarily imprecise due to several uncertain parameters, but nevertheless provide evidence of a very high expected ROI that is robust to different inputs and assumptions.
Topic:
Health, Science and Technology, Health Care Policy, and Medicine
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

2. Estimating the UK's Return on Investment from an Ambitious Program to Incentivize New Antibiotics

Author:
Rachel Silverman and Adrian Towse
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Anti-microbial drugs form the backbone of modern medicine. Yet their lifespan is naturally limited; over time, use of these drugs selects for mutations that survive exposure those same drugs, driving “anti-microbial resistance,” or AMR. Already, drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 7,600 citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) every year. In the absence of sufficient research and development (R&D) investment for new antimicrobials, deaths from drug-resistant infections could increase dramatically in the coming decade. To address this growing crisis and solve market failures that prevent the development of new antibiotics, the UK has set up “subscription models” for purchasing antibiotics; this has been applied to two drugs thus far, and the model is under consideration for a broader rollout. In this note, we present the results of a modelling exercise to estimate the likely return on investment (ROI) from an expanded program to incentivize new antibiotics, assuming it is paired with complementary and proportionate efforts from the UK’s G7 partners. The results are necessarily imprecise due to several uncertain parameters, but nevertheless provide evidence of a very high expected ROI that is robust to different inputs and assumptions.
Topic:
Health, Science and Technology, Health Care Policy, and Medicine
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

3. Estimating Canada’s Return on Investment from an Ambitious Program to Incentivize New Antibiotics

Author:
Rachel Silverman and Adrian Towse
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Anti-microbial drugs form the backbone of modern medicine. Yet their lifespan is naturally limited; over time, use of these drugs selects for mutations that survive exposure those same drugs, driving “anti-microbial resistance,” or AMR. Already, drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 5,400 Canadian citizens every year. In the absence of sufficient research and development (R&D) investment for new antimicrobials, deaths from drug-resistant infections could increase dramatically in the coming decade. To address this growing crisis and solve market failures that prevent the development of new antibiotics, the Government of Canada is considering a new program that would provide minimum guaranteed revenue to the successful developers of new antibiotics. In this note, we present the results of a modelling exercise to estimate the likely return on investment (ROI) from such a program, assuming it is paired with complementary and proportionate efforts from Canada’s G7 partners. The results are necessarily imprecise due to several uncertain parameters, but nevertheless provide evidence of a very high expected ROI that is robust to different inputs and assumptions.
Topic:
Health, Science and Technology, Investment, and Medicine
Political Geography:
Canada and North America

4. A Fund for Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness

Author:
Amanda Glassman, Eleni Smitham, and Erin Collinson
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The COVID-19 crisis has served as a painful demonstration that no country is fully prepared for a pandemic and that the existing global health architecture remains ill-equipped to finance pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR). The rationale for preventing and containing pandemics is self-evident: the price of preparedness is a fraction of the cost of responding to catastrophic outbreaks, both in terms of human and economic well-being.[1] In the aftermath of the 2003 SARS outbreak, 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, experts called for scaling up sustainable financing to ensure the world was better prepared to face that next global health threat. But even amid efforts to better understand and measure preparedness gaps,[2] little action was taken to mobilize financing and incentivize investments in strengthening detection, prevention, and response capabilities. As global health threats evolve, countries’ capacity to prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks is increasingly a global imperative. Now is the time to take concrete steps toward establishing sustained financing for pandemic PPR to help bring an end to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, combat future health security threats, and break the costly cycle of neglect.
Topic:
Security, Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. The Commitment to Development Index 2021

Author:
Ian Mitchell, Lee Robinson, Beata Cichocka, and Euan Ritchie
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) ranks 40 of the world’s most powerful countries on policies that affect more than five billion people living in poorer nations. Because development is about more than foreign aid, the CDI covers eight distinct policy areas: Development Finance Investment Migration Trade Health Environment Security Technology
Topic:
Security, Development, Environment, Health, Migration, Science and Technology, Finance, Investment, and Trade
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis’s Indirect Health Impacts for Women and Girls

Author:
Carleigh Krubiner, Megan O'Donnell, Julia Kaufman, and Shelby Bourgault
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As donor institutions and governments seek to provide relief and support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, CGD’s COVID-19 Gender and Development Initiative aims to ensure that their policy and investment decisions equitably benefit women and girls. We seek to support decision-makers in understanding the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; assess health, economic, and social policy response measures with a gender lens; and propose evidence-based solutions for an inclusive recovery. Recognizing that the dialogue to date has largely emphasized challenges facing women and girls in high-income settings, our analysis centers on women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. In this policy brief, we summarize the findings of a CGD working paper, Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis’s Indirect Health Impacts for Women and Girls. We examine how the pandemic is affecting women’s and girl’s health, including their sexual and reproductive health; some of the ways national governments and donor institutions have sought to maintain the provision of essential health services; and existing gaps, opportunities, and promising strategies donors and governments should pursue to address indirect harms to women’s and girl’s health during and beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
Topic:
Health, Children, Women, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Five Things the Health Minister Should Do to Enhance the UK’s Global Health Footprint

Author:
Kalipso Chalkidou
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As Health Secretary Matt Hancock returns to his role as part of Boris Johnson’s premiership, he has an opportunity to make good on the UK’s renewed confidence and ambition by drawing on what the new prime minister calls the “best healthcare [system]” to drive improvements in health globally. The UK’s Department of Health and Social Care controls its biggest-ever official development assistance (ODA) budget, doubling between 2017 and 2018 to just under £200m, or 1.3 percent of the country’s aid allocation. This places the UK’s secretary of state for health in a unique position to truly make a difference in countries’ journeys towards universal healthcare coverage (UHC), whilst also defending (and making a case for more of) the ODA money his department has been allocated, even to development aid’s harshest critics. Here are five things he can do to make this happen, both using his own department’s ODA budget and influencing how DFID’s majority share is spent.
Topic:
Health, Governance, Health Care Policy, and Leadership
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

8. Why Uncertainty in Global Health Interventions Matters—and What We Can Do About It

Author:
Kalipso Chalkidou, Anupama Dathan, and Francis Ruiz
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Global health interventions, like many public policies, are rife with uncertainty. Will a program, such as a malaria prevention strategy that looks strong on paper, work as intended? Will a new technology, such as a specific drug or device that appears effective in clinical trial settings, work in practice and provide good value-for-money? In the case of programs made up of a complex interaction of multiple interventions, implementers often create a theory of change and then meticulously track whether it is being followed every step of the way, from each input translating into the prespecified activity, and the activities yielding the right outputs and the expected outcomes. When observational data is available that permits quantitative analysis (evaluation), it may also be possible to estimate causal impact in a given setting by applying experimental methods (such as a randomized controlled trial) or quasi-experimental techniques (such as difference-in-difference analysis). Such program evaluations generally consider outputs (e.g. the number of bed nets distributed) and relatively short-term outcomes (e.g. malaria infections following bed net distribution). Many eval- uations also collect data years after the program to identify longer-term impacts. Cost-effectiveness calculations are sometimes conducted after ascertaining the cost and impact of the program, but such analyses aren’t necessarily considered when determining whether to implement a certain program or technology—especially when politics and other concerns get in the way. Discrete clinical interventions and technologies (which are defined as including clinical interven- tions, drugs, diagnostics and even public health programs) are usually the subject of health technolo- gy assessment (HTA) to inform coverage decisions in many contexts. The underpinning evidence base for HTA typically involves a synthesis of randomized trial data, designed to reduce bias in estimating causal inference and relative effectiveness. Trial data is then combined with information from other sources and study designs to develop models of the technology’s long-term health and cost impact in a given context. A key feature of both programs and technologies is uncertainty.
Topic:
Health, International Cooperation, Science and Technology, Humanitarian Intervention, and Pharmaceuticals
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. Strengthening European Leadership on Global Health Security

Author:
Amanda Glassman, Jeremy Konyndyk, and Liesl Schnabel
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Impending leadership transitions in EU institutions provide a unique opportunity to bolster European action on global health security. This would be a double win for the EU: advancing its efforts to foster progress in developing countries while also protecting Europe itself against potential disease risks. To help strengthen the EU’s leadership on global health security, the new Commission should
Topic:
Security, Health, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Leadership
Political Geography:
Europe

10. Commitment to Development Index 2013

Author:
Owen Barder and Petra Krylová
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Commitment to Development Index ranks 27 of the world's richest countries on policies that affect the more than five billion people living in poorer nations. The CDI goes beyond measures of foreign aid to quantify performance in seven areas: Quantity and quality of foreign aid Openness to trade policies that encourage investment and financial transparency Openness to migration Environmental policies Promotion of international security Support for technology creation and transfer Why does the CDI matter? Because in an integrated world, the behavior of rich countries and powerful institutions can profoundly affect the lives of people in poor countries and because poverty and weak institutions in developing countries can breed public health crises, security threats, and economic crises that know no borders. Committing to policies that promote development and well-being is a global imperative: no human being should be denied the chance to live free of poverty and oppression and to enjoy a basic standard of education and health. The CDI countries all promote respect for human life and dignity; the Index looks at whether the policies of rich countries match these aspirations.
Topic:
Security, Development, Education, Health, Poverty, and Fragile/Failed State

11. Global Health and the New Bottom Billion: How Funders Should Respond to Shifts in Global Poverty and Disease Burden

Author:
Amanda Glassman, Andy Sumner, and Denizhan Duran
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
After a decade of rapid economic growth, many developing countries have attained middle-income status. But poverty reduction in these countries has not kept pace with economic growth. As a result, most of the world's poor—up to a billion people—now live in these new middle-income countries (MICs), making up a “new bottom billion.” As the new MICs are home to most of the world's poor, they also carry the majority of the global disease burden. This poses a challenge to global health agencies, in particular the GAVI Alliance and the Global Fund, which are accustomed to disbursing funds on the assumption that the majority of poor people live in poor countries.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Health, and Poverty

12. Commitment to Development Index 2012

Author:
David Roodman
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Why does the CDI matter? Because in an increasingly integrated world, the behavior of rich countries can profoundly affect the lives of people in poor countries and because poverty and weak institutions in developing countries can breed public health crises, security threats, and economic crises that know no borders. Committing to policies that promote develop- ment and well-being is a global imperative—no human being should be denied the chance to live free of poverty and oppression and to enjoy a basic standard of education and health. The CDI countries, all democracies, preach concern for human life and dignity within their own borders; the Index looks at whether rich countries' actions match their words.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, Health, and Poverty

13. Getting Better Value for Money in Malaria Control

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Paul Wilson
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people every year and is among the leading causes of death for children under five. While funding for malaria control increased dramatically in recent years, gains are fragile and budgets are now stagnating. In that fiscal reality, getting better value for money is more important than ever. In this brief, we present a framework for increasing the efficiency of malaria-control initiatives that addresses where to intervene, what interventions are best, and how to deliver them most effectively. Much of what is spent on malaria control is already spent well, but health policymakers and practitioners could get better value and save more lives by implementing the following recommendations: Improve procurement procedures for bednets. Reduce overlap of insecticide-spraying and bednet programs. Expand the use of rapid diagnostics. Scale up intermittent presumptive treatment for pregnant women and infants.
Topic:
Health and Infectious Diseases

14. Priority-Setting in Health: Building Institutions for Smarter Public Spending

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Kalipso Chalkidou
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Health donors, policymakers, and practitioners continuously make life-and-death decisions about which type of patients receive what interventions, when, and at what cost. These decisions—as consequential as they are—often result from ad hoc, nontransparent processes driven more by inertia and interest groups than by science, ethics, and the public interest. The result is perverse priorities, wasted money, and needless death and illness. Examples abound: In India, only 44 percent of children 1 to 2 years old are fully vaccinated, yet open-heart surgery is subsidized in national public hospitals. In Colombia, 58 percent of children are fully vaccinated, but public monies subsidize treating breast cancer with Avastin, a brand-name medicine considered ineffective and unsafe for this purpose in the United States.
Topic:
Development, Health, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
United States, India, and Colombia

15. Quantifying the Quality of Health Aid: Health QuODA

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Denizhan Duran
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Health is one of the largest and most complex sectors of foreign aid: in recent years, about 15 cents of every aid dollar went to global health. While health is often cited as one of the few undisputed aid success stories, there is little quantitative analysis of the quality of health aid, and some studies suggest that health aid does not necessarily improve health outcomes.
Topic:
Development, Globalization, Health, Foreign Aid, and Health Care Policy

16. Focus UNFPA: Four Recommendations for Action

Author:
Katie Stein
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
With a new executive director appointed in November 2010, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is in a position to re-assert its role and lead the world's effort toward landmark achievements in improving women's health and well-being. The Fund's performance will literally be a matter of life or death for millions of women and children. The numbers speak for themselves: an estimated 215 million women lack access to modern contraceptives, and there are approximately 350,000 maternal deaths each year. As the lead agency for the United Nations' work on population and reproductive health, UNFPA can reduce this terrible and unnecessary toll of lost lives.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Gender Issues, Health, and United Nations

17. World Bank (ABCs of the IFIs Brief)

Author:
Jenny Ottenhoff
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The World Bank is a multilateral financial institution that provides financial and technical assistance for development in low- and middle-income countries. Finance is allocated through low-interest loans and grants for a range of development sectors such as health and education, infrastructure, public administration, financial and private-sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management.
Topic:
Development, Education, Environment, Health, Foreign Aid, Infrastructure, and World Bank
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Indonesia, and India

18. Affordable Interventions to Prevent Noncommunicable Diseases Worldwide

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Kate McQueston
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and mental illnesses are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Surprisingly, the burden is especially high in developing countries, which bear 80 percent of deaths due to NCDs. Four main factors are at fault: tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and alcohol use. The good news is that much of the NCD burden can be prevented through interventions that are affordable in most countries. The United States can help now by taking five low-cost or no-cost steps:End tariff-reducing trade practices for tobacco.Partner with public and private donors.Leverage U.S. influence in multilateral development institutions.Exploit synergies between disease control and other development projects.Encourage evidence-informed budget allocation.
Topic:
Development, Health, and Poverty
Political Geography:
United Nations

19. Achieving an AIDS Transition: Preventing Infections to Sustain Treatment

Author:
Mead Over
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
An unprecedented surge in donor support for HIV/AIDS treatment over the last decade has lengthened and improved the lives of millions of people living with HIV/AIDS. But because the rate of new infections outpaces the rate of AIDS-related deaths, the number of people living with AIDS—and therefore the number of people needing treatment—is growing faster than the funding needed to treat them. In 2009, about 1.8 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses while about 2.6 million were newly infected with HIV, increasing the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS by more than three-quarters of a million.
Topic:
Development, Health, and Foreign Aid

20. Safer, Faster, Cheaper: Improving Clinical Trials and Regulatory Pathways to Fight Neglected Diseases

Author:
Amanda Glassman and Thomas Bollyky
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
More than a billion people suffer from neglected diseases, and millions die each year. Effective remedies have been few because of low investment, but with a surge in funding in the past decade, dozens of candidate drugs and vaccines are now in the pipeline. Before these products can reach the people who need them, they must be tested in large-scale clinical trials that are expensive, time-consuming, and risky. These trials must be conducted with highly vulnerable patients in resource-and infrastructure-poor countries where the neglected disease burden exists. There is not enough funding to support the costs and regulatory oversight of these clinical trials. A two-pronged approach to improve the quality and lower the cost of clinical trials in the developing world is needed.
Topic:
Development, Health, Poverty, and Infrastructure

21. Every Dollar Counts: How Global AIDS Donors Can Better Link Funding Decisions to Performance

Author:
David Wendt, Nandini Oomman, and Christina Droggitis
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Billions of dollars have been allocated to fight HIV/AIDS in poor countries over the past decade, yet less than half of those requiring treatment receive it, and for every two people put on treatment, five more become infected. This situation, in combination with the global economic crisis and the growing pressure to respond to broader global health objectives, is forcing donors to consider how to do more with their available funds. One way to improve the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS programs is to tie funding decisions to performance. Performance-based funding rewards effective programs and gives incentives for poor performers to improve. Donors have experimented with this approach, but they should do much more to ensure that funding decisions reflect and respond to how well funding recipients meet the objectives of their programs.
Topic:
Health, Third World, and Foreign Aid

22. Ever Dollar Counts: How Global AIDS Donors Can Better Link Funding Decisions to Performance

Author:
David Wendt, Nandini Oomman, and Christina Droggitis
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Billions of dollars have been allocated to fight HIV/AIDS in poor countries over the past decade, yet less than half of those requiring treatment receive it, and for every two people put on treatment, five more become infected. This situation, in combination with the global economic crisis and the growing pressure to respond to broader global health objectives, is forcing donors to consider how to do more with their available funds. One way to improve the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS programs is to tie funding decisions to performance. Performance-based funding rewards effective programs and gives incentives for poor performers to improve. Donors have experimented with this approach, but they should do much more to ensure that funding decisions reflect and respond to how well funding recipients meet the objectives of their programs.
Topic:
Health

23. The Race Against Drug Resistance

Author:
Rachel Nugent
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
We are rapidly losing our ability to cure an alarming number of the most serious and common diseases of the developing world because of an invisible adversary: drug resistance. Resistance is inevitable—but careless practices in drug supply and use are hastening it unnecessarily. Without an immediate global effort to safeguard lasting treatment effectiveness, drug resistance will quickly become a widespread threat—claiming lives, raising the cost of curing patients, and making future generations increasingly vulnerable to deadly diseases that were easily cured in the past.
Topic:
Health and War on Drugs

24. Think Long Term: How Global AIDS Donors Can Strengthen the Health Workforce in Africa

Author:
Nandini Oomman and Christina Droggitis
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
For the past decade, global AIDS donors—including the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEFPAR), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), and the World Bank's Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program for Africa (the MAP)—have responded to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa as an emergency. Financial and programmatic efforts have been quick, vertical, and HIV-specific. To achieve ambitious HIV/AIDS targets, AIDS donors mobilized health workers from weak and understaffed national health workforces. The shortages were the result of weak data for effective planning, inadequate capacity to train and pay health workers, and fragmentation and poor coordination across the health workforce life-cycle. Ten years and billions of dollars later, the problem still persists. The time has passed for short-term fixes to health workforce shortages. As the largest source of global health resources, AIDS donors must begin to address the long-term problems underlying the shortages and the effects of their efforts on the health workforce more broadly.
Topic:
Development, Globalization, Health, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Africa

25. Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health

Author:
Miriam Temin
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Improving adolescent girls' health and wellbeing is critical to achieving virtually all international development goals, from reducing infant and child deaths to stimulating economic growth and encouraging environmental sustainability. Governments and donors seem to recognize this, but they have yet to take the specific actions needed to genuinely invest in adolescent girls' health and, thereby, the health and wellbeing of generations to come.
Topic:
Development, Gender Issues, Health, Human Rights, and Border Control
Political Geography:
Africa and China

26. Going Beyond Gender as Usual: Why and How Global HIV/AIDS Donors Can Do More for Women and Girls

Author:
David Wendt, Nandini Oomman, and Christina Droggitis
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Few people doubt that gender inequality influences the spread of HIV/AIDS. Yet public health efforts tend to focus on changing individual behavior rather than addressing structural factors—social, economic, physical and political—that influence the spread and effects of HIV and AIDS.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Health, and Social Stratification

27. Performance Incentives for Global Health: Potential and Pitfalls

Author:
Rena Eichler and Ruth Levine
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Global health donors, like national governments, have traditionally paid for inputs such as doctors' salaries or medical equipment in the hope that they would lead to better health. Performance incentives offered to health workers, facility managers, or patients turn the equation on its head: they start with the performance targets and let those most directly affected decide how to achieve them. Funders pay (in money or in kind) when health providers or patients reach specified goals. Evidence shows that such incentives can work in a variety of settings. But making them effective requires careful planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
Topic:
Health, Humanitarian Aid, Third World, and Foreign Aid