Health Aid Programs “Not Helping Poor Countries”
Global health initiatives aimed at fighting major threats such as AIDS and malaria are showing signs of backfiring in the countries that most need their help, it was claimed Friday.
Two reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and a team of US researchers point to serious shortcomings in the health programs.
The WHO said although global health initiatives (GHIs) had benefited millions, there was evidence that they held back the health systems of poor countries. Services not targeted by GHIs were sometimes left behind and aid from outside could lead to countries reducing their own health spending.
Development aid earmarked for health in developing countries in fact doubled in the 1990s and then again from 2001 to 2007, climbing from 5,6 to 21,8 billion US dollar over 17 years.
But the distribution of those extra dollars, euros and yen has disproportionately favored nations whose health needs are not among the worlds most urgent, the research shows. The studies were published in the British medical journal The Lancet.
Chris Murray of the University of Washington and colleagues found AIDS gets at least 23 cents of every health dollar going to poor countries. Globally, AIDS causes fewer than 4 percent of deaths.
– Funds in global health tend to go to whichever lobby group shouts the loudest, with AIDS being a case in point, said Philip Stevens of International Policy Network, a London think tank.
When Cambodia asked for help from 2003-2005, it said less than 10 percent of aid was needed for AIDS. But of the donations Cambodia got, more than 40 percent went to diseases including AIDS.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
