Access to new resource related to solving global problems added to PMWL
Resource provided by Daisy Ogutu
15 April 2020 – Kisumu, Kenya – Access to a new resource has been added to the PM World Library (PMWL) related to solving global health and social problems. The new resource is titled: The Effects of Global Health Initiatives on Country Health Systems: A Review of the Evidence by the HIV/AIDS Control, a paper by Blanco B. R., Brugha R.F., Walsh A. and Spicer N. and published in the journal Health Policy and Planning in 2009.
Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) were put in place as an emergency response to accelerate the scale up of control of major communicable diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. GHIs are characterized by their ability to mobilize huge levels of financial resources, linking inputs to performance, and by the channeling of resources directly to non-governmental civil society groups. Three GHIs are extensively discussed in the report: the World Bank’s Multi-country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). These 3 GHIs contribute more than two thirds of all direct external funding to scaling up HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care in resource poor countries. High level political support has been leveraged for HIV/AIDS at the global level which captured the attention of many stakeholders at the country level. The Global Fund aims to support programs that reflect local priorities and fit within existing country structures but in practice the extent to which this occurs vary widely.
GHI-imposed priorities and funding decisions also reflect a country’s system weaknesses. In one evaluation by MAP, positive findings indicated that GHI approaches had promoted lesson learning for the governments. Global Fund and PEPFAR have also reportedly learned lessons and modified their processes over time. Sometimes because of the different project implementing agencies, a duplication of planning structures was realized. Traditional negotiations were done between the government and the agencies behind closed doors with a lack of transparency. The use of many different routes to channel funds meant greater diversity but also introduced more complexities. A lack of trust among the different agencies was also noticed, that is, between the government and non-governmental sectors. Usually, new systems and processes are adopted and a country’s own systems are mostly by-passed.
According to the report, GHIs should: expand to cater more than just HIV/AIDS, strengthen capacity of national systems, be more flexible when addressing weaknesses in a country’s systems, find better ways of dealing with human resource related issues in the health sector and should also encourage the participation of non-governmental as well as government stakeholders.
To access this new resource, go to the global initiatives section of the library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/solving-global-problems/, scroll down to “Solving Global Human and Social Problems”, click on disease response, scroll down to resource. Free access, but please consider registering. Try the Trial membership for 30 days of free access to everything in the PMWL.
This new resource provided through the PMWL university research internship program; to learn more, click here
