Health funding: poor countries and non-governmental groups do best at using funds from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria

(8 August 06)

Poor countries are more successful than richer ones at using funding from the Global Fund, according to a study in 86 countries by leading researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, recently published in The Lancet.

“Countries with higher incomes or more-developed health systems were more likely to let funded grants languish”, said a Harvard statement.

The grants are subject to strict reporting procedures for disbursement, with the fund making payments four times a year based on quarterly achievements defined in grant agreements. The implementation of grants was also strongly related to a country's political stability, Harvard reported.

“In international dollar terms, which take into account relative purchasing power, going from an income per capita of $1,000 (such as in Mozambique) to $2,000 (such as in Yemen) is associated with approximately a three percentage point reduction in grant execution rate” said Harvard.

Also, compared with government recipients (usually either Ministries of Finance or Ministries of Health), faith-based organizations, non-governmental organizations and private entities had a 7.4 percent higher level of grant implementation, the study concluded.

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