Resource Type: Report
Published: August 2018

Resource Description: The Government of the State of Osun is aligning with the global and national agenda of pursuing the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). To this end, the state is implementing various health financing reforms to sustainably improve health. A pertinent question is how the government can identify the availability of resources or fiscal space to finance the impressive initiatives proposed to achieve this goal. This report assesses all potential sources of fiscal space including conducive macro-economic conditions, reprioritization of health sector within Government’s existing expenditure envelope, earmarking for health, increasing resources from external sources, and obtaining efficiency gains from improving the quality of spending to achieve more value for money. This analysis of the fiscal space for health in Osun state will enable decision makers make informed decisions around target setting, advocacy and planning needs for resourcing the Osun health sector.

The concept of fiscal space for health defined as the budgetary room allowing a government to provide additional resources for health without jeopardizing fiscal sustainability. This study explored five pillars that could be used to generate fiscal space for health: conducive macroeconomic conditions; reprioritization of health; earmarking of funds; health sector specific grants and foreign aid; and increased efficiency of existing health expenditure. As the state engages in the implementation of its new strategic health development plan (SHDP), a fiscal space analysis was recommended to explore ways to increase resources for the sector, even in a constrained macro‐fiscal condition and USAID’s Health Finance and Governance Project supported the Osun State Ministry of Health (OSMoH) in this effort.