This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Significant increase in funding for health care assistance in developing countries seen since 1990

Since 1990, high-income countries distributed nearly $458 million in funding for the maintenance and improvement of heath care services in developing countries, according to recently published data in JAMA.

“Funding for health in developing countries had increased substantially since 1990, with a focus on HIV/AIDS, maternal health, and newborn and child health,” Joseph L. Dieleman, PhD, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Seattle, and colleagues wrote.

To assess the amount of development assistance for health that the governments of high-income countries and private organizations provided and the areas to which funds were allocated, researchers analyzed budget, revenue and expenditures data from 1990 to 2014.

Results demonstrated that high income countries (n = 38) distributed $458 billion to developing countries (n = 146-183) between 1990 and 2014, with funding amounts increasing each year. In 2014, $35.9 billion was disbursed for health assistance, up from $6.9 billion in 1990. From 2000 to 2010, health care funding had an annual increase of 11.3%, however, after 2010, no substantial annual increase was seen. 

Between 1990 and 2014, the U.S. by far provided the largest amount of funding, $143.1 billion for health assistance, with $12.4 billion in 2014 alone. The U.K. provided $32.6 billion for health care assistance between 1990 and 2014, making them the second overall largest public contributing source.

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, along with other private philanthropic groups, provided $69.9 billion in funding from 1990 to 2014.

Overall, 28% of all health care assistance funding has been allocated to maternal, child and newborn health, 23.2% to HIV/AIDS, 4.3% to malaria, 2.8% to tuberculosis and 1.5% for non-communicable diseases. The researchers noted that a large proportion of funding dedicated to newborn and children’s health was used to support childhood vaccinations.

“Understanding how funding patterns have changed across time and the priorities of sources of international funding across distinct channels, recipients, and health focus areas may help identify where funding gaps persists and where cost-effective interventions could save lives,” Dieleman and colleagues wrote. – by Casey Hower

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.