New report on public financing for health in Africa
Fifteen years ago, African leaders pledged to increase health spending to 15% of total government expenditure. Since then health spending has reached an average of 10%. Still, as economies have grown, a number of challenges are hampering progress towards universal health coverage. A new WHO report examines trends in public financing in Africa and the critical role played by public financial management systems.
Summary
This report takes stock of the main public financing for health trends over the past fifteen years in the African region, and highlights opportunities for accelerated progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) based on better-informed budget planning and utilization decisions.
The report presents new evidence on the critical role played by domestic public financial management systems on the level, effectiveness and quality of public spending on health in Africa. It argues that these systems should be reconsidered if countries are to move towards UHC.
Country experience in reforming public finance systems to support progress towards UHC indicates that success depends on more than simply increasing the level of public budgets. Rather, it requires appropriately targeted health budget allocations, complete execution of health’s public budgets, and improved efficiency in the use of public resources for health.
The report is composed of three sections. The first section is articulated around three policy highlights:
aligning budget resources and health priorities;
closing the gap between health budget allocation and expenditure; and
maximizing UHC performance with the money available.
Section 2 is dedicated to providing detailed health financing information on countries, and includes 48 country profiles focused on key health financing trends. The last section includes information on progress towards the development of health financing strategies in the region, as well as regional and country benchmarks on key health financing indicators.
