More money for health/ more health for money: improving domestic financing for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health

Overview

Improving health outcomes for women and children requires sufficient funding to implement proven quality interventions that span the continuum of care from pre-pregnancy to delivery, the postnatal period, and childhood. The global economic crisis has led to a slowdown in the growth of international development assistance for health Many countries have also been unable to meet the High Level Task Force on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems (HLTF) recommended target expenditure on health of US $44 per capita. While official development assistance for maternal and child health is increasing in a number of African countries, funding gaps still exist.

There is now an increased focus on what African countries can do to raise public and private resources for health (“more money for health”) and to improve value for money of existing resources for health (“more health for money”). Additionally, there is increased interest in creating systems through which women and children are able to access quality health services without suffering financial hardship.