scholarly journals Innovative financing to fund surgical systems and expand surgical care in low-income and middle-income countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. e002375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ché L Reddy ◽  
Alexander W Peters ◽  
Desmond Tanko Jumbam ◽  
Luke Caddell ◽  
Blake C Alkire ◽  
...  

Strong surgical systems are necessary to prevent premature death and avoidable disability from surgical conditions. The epidemiological transition, which has led to a rising burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries worldwide, will increase the demand for surgical assessment and care as a definitive healthcare intervention. Yet, 5 billion people lack access to timely, affordable and safe surgical and anaesthesia care, with the unmet demand affecting predominantly low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Rapid surgical care scale-up is required in LMICs to strengthen health system capabilities, but adequate financing for this expansion is lacking. This article explores the critical role of innovative financing in scaling up surgical care in LMICs. We locate surgical system financing by using a modified fiscal space analysis. Through an analysis of published studies and case studies on recent trends in the financing of global health systems, we provide a conceptual framework that could assist policy-makers in health systems to develop innovative financing strategies to mobilise additional investments for scale-up of surgical care in LMICs. This is the first time such an analysis has been applied to the funding of surgical care. Innovative financing in global surgery is an untapped potential funding source for expanding fiscal space for health systems and financing scale-up of surgical care in LMICs.

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aye Mengistu Alemu ◽  
Jin-Sang Lee

Previous empirical studies on the effects of foreign aid on economic growth have generated mixed results that make it difficult to draw policy recommendations. The main reason for such mixed results is the choice of a single aggregate list of countries, regardless of the disparities in levels of development. This study therefore fills the development gap by disaggregating the African data into a panel of 20 middle- income and 19 low- income African countries over a period of 15 years between 1995 and 2010, and employing a dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) model to address the dynamic nature of economic growth as well as the problems of endogeneity. The results of this study support the theoretical hypothesis that a positive relationship between aid and GDP growth exists, but only for low-income African countries, not middle-income ones. On the other hand, the study reveals that middle- income African countries tend to experience a greater impact on their economic growth from foreign direct investment (FDI) and natural resources revenues, mainly oil exports. This implies that the frequent criticism that foreign aid has not contributed to economic growth is flawed, at least in the case of low-income African countries. In fact, foreign aid has played a critical role in stimulating economic growth in such countries through supplementing domestic sources of finance such as savings, thus increasing the amount of investment and capital stock in them.


AIDS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement 2) ◽  
pp. S165-S171
Author(s):  
Emily Lark Harris ◽  
Katherine Blumer ◽  
Carmen Perez Casas ◽  
Danielle Ferris ◽  
Carolyn Amole ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e001248
Author(s):  
Helen Saxenian ◽  
Nahad Sadr-Azodi ◽  
Miloud Kaddar ◽  
Kamel Senouci

Immunisation is a cornerstone to primary health care and is an exceptionally good value. The 14 low-income and middle-income countries in the Middle East and North Africa region make up 88% of the region’s population and 92% of its births. Many of these countries have maintained high immunisation coverage even during periods of low or negative economic growth. However, coverage has sharply deteriorated in countries directly impacted by conflict and political unrest. Approximately 1.3 million children were not completely vaccinated in 2017, as measured by third dose of diphtheria–pertussis–tetanus vaccine. Most of the countries have been slow to adopt the newer, more expensive life-saving vaccines mainly because of financial constraints and the socioeconomic context. Apart from the three countries that have had long-standing assistance from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, most countries have not benefited appreciably from donor and partner activities in supporting their health sector and in achieving their national and subnational immunisation targets. Looking forward, development partners will have an important role in helping reconstruct health systems in conflict-affected countries. They can also help with generating evidence and strategic advocacy for high-priority and cost-effective services, including immunisation. Governments and ministries of health would ensure important benefits to their populations by investing further in their immunisation programmes. Where possible, the health system can create and expand fiscal space from efficiency gains in harmonising vaccine procurement mechanisms and service integration; broader revenue generation from economic growth; and reallocation of government budgets to health, and from within health, to immunization.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (Suppl 6) ◽  
pp. e001265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel T Moresky ◽  
Junaid Razzak ◽  
Teri Reynolds ◽  
Lee A Wallis ◽  
Benjamin W Wachira ◽  
...  

Emergency care systems (ECS) address a wide range of acute conditions, including emergent conditions from communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, pregnancy and injury. Together, ECS represent an area of great potential for reducing morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). It is estimated that up to 54% of annual deaths in LMICs could be addressed by improved prehospital and facility-based emergency care. Research is needed to identify strategies for enhancing ECS to optimise prevention and treatment of conditions presenting in this context, yet significant gaps persist in defining critical research questions for ECS studies in LMICs. The Collaborative on Enhancing Emergency Care Research in LMICs seeks to promote research that improves immediate and long-term outcomes for clients and populations with emergent conditions. The objective of this paper is to describe systems approaches and research strategies for ECS in LMICs, elucidate priority research questions and methodology, and present a selection of studies addressing the operational, implementation, policy and health systems domains of health systems research as an approach to studying ECS. Finally, we briefly discuss limitations and the next steps in developing ECS-oriented interventions and research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley J. Drake ◽  
Nail Lazrak ◽  
Meena Fernandes ◽  
Kim Chu ◽  
Samrat Singh ◽  
...  

The creation of Human Capital is dependent upon good health and education throughout the first 8,000 days of life, but there is currently under-investment in health and nutrition after the first 1,000 days. Working with governments and partners, the UN World Food Program is leading a global scale up of investment in school health, and has undertaken a strategic analysis to explore the scale and cost of meeting the needs of the most disadvantaged school age children and adolescents in low and middle-income countries globally. Of the 663 million school children enrolled in school, 328 million live where the current coverage of school meals is inadequate (<80%), of these, 251 million live in countries where there are significant nutrition deficits (>20% anemia and stunting), and of these an estimated 73 million children in 60 countries are also living in extreme poverty (<USD 1.97 per day). 62.7 million of these children are in Africa, and more than 66% live in low income countries, with a substantial minority in pockets of poverty in middle-income countries. The estimated overall financial requirement for school feeding is USD 4.7 billion, increasing to USD 5.8 billion annually if other essential school health interventions are included in the package. The DCP3 (Vol 8) school feeding edition and the global coverage numbers were launched in Tunis, 2018 by the WFP Executive Director, David Beasley. These estimates continue to inform the development of WFP's global strategy for school feeding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. e384-e386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ché L Reddy ◽  
Shivani Mitra ◽  
John G Meara ◽  
Rifat Atun ◽  
Salim Afshar

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. e001808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Bath ◽  
Tom Bashford ◽  
J E Fitzgerald

‘Global surgery’ is the term adopted to describe a rapidly developing multidisciplinary field aiming to provide improved and equitable surgical care across international health systems. Sitting at the interface between numerous clinical and non-clinical specialisms, it encompasses multiple aspects that surround the treatment of surgical disease and its equitable provision across health systems globally. From defining the role of, and need for, optimal surgical care through to identifying barriers and implementing improvement, global surgery has an expansive remit. Advocacy, education, research and clinical components can all involve surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and allied healthcare professionals working together with non-clinicians, including policy makers, epidemiologists and economists. Long neglected as a topic within the global and public health arenas, an increasing awareness of the extreme disparities internationally has driven greater engagement. Not necessarily restricted to specific diseases, populations or geographical regions, these disparities have led to a particular focus on surgical care in low-income and middle-income countries with the greatest burden and needs. This review considers the major factors defining the interface between surgery, anaesthesia and public health in these settings.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (suppl 4) ◽  
pp. iv9-iv19 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Adam ◽  
J. Hsu ◽  
D. de Savigny ◽  
J. N. Lavis ◽  
J.-A. Rottingen ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 191 (6) ◽  
pp. 528-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Chisholm ◽  
Crick Lund ◽  
Shekhar Saxena

BackgroundNo systematic attempt has been made to calculate the costs of scaling up mental health services in low-and middle-income countries.AimsTo estimate the expenditures needed to scale up the delivery of an essential mental healthcare package over a 10-year period (2006–2015).MethodA core package was defined, comprising pharmacological and/or psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and hazardous alcohol use. Current service levels in 12 selected low-and middle-income countries were established using the WHO–AIMS assessment tool. Target-level resource needs were derived from published need assessments and economic evaluations.ResultsThe cost per capita of providing the core package attarget coverage levels (in US dollars) ranged from $1.85 to $2.60 per year in low-income countries and $3.20 to $6.25 per year in lower-middle-income countries, an additional annual investment of $0.18–0.55 per capita.ConclusionsAlthough significant new resources need to be invested, the absolute amount is not large when considered at the population level and against other health investment strategies.


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