Resource Type: Report
Authors: Sharon Nakhimovsky, John Langenbrunner, James White, Abigail Vogus, Hailu Zelelew, Carlos Avila
Published: 10/31/2014

Resource Description:

Advances in health care are extending and improving the quality of life for people around the world, but such advances come with a price tag. While all nations face budgetary constraints for health funding, low- and middle-income countries have the fewest resources for their health sectors. And as many of these nations begin transitioning away from donor-funding for health programs, they need to ensure that any financing gaps are not covered by households paying out-of-pocket in a way that increases inequities in health access and pushes more people into poverty. Clearly, there is a need for low- and middle-income countries to increase the flow of equitable and sustainable domestic financing for health.

A new HFG report —Domestic Innovative Financing for Health: Learning From Country Experience—highlights “domestic innovative financing” options; that is, those originating from domestic sources which can generate additional resources for the health sector. The focus of the report is not to prioritize revenue generation, but rather to “assess country experience with domestic innovative financing options, both successes and failures, in order to increase global wisdom on selecting and implementing them in low- and middle-income countries.” It draws on lessons learned from several countries to provide evidence and scenarios for low- and middle-income nations to increase the financing potential of national health systems.