Thursday, September 27, 2012

[EQ] Who Sets the Global Health Research Agenda? The Challenge of Multi-Bi Financing

Who Sets the Global Health Research Agenda?
The Challenge of Multi-Bi Financing

Devi Sridhar, Blavatnik School of Government & Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

PLoS Med 9(9): e1001312. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001312 - September 25, 2012

Available online at: http://bit.ly/RkUfsI

“…….A major challenge in the governance of research funding is priority-setting. As a former health minister in sub-Saharan Africa noted, “Everyone is chasing the money—reputable universities, the UN agencies, partnerships, civil society groups, so who is actually doing what developing countries really need, rather than what donors want?” [1]

The past 15 years have been called revolutionary in global health in terms of the funding raised and the number of initiatives launched. One of the side effects of having more money, institutions, and initiatives in global health is increased competition among the various parties. And, the priorities of funding bodies largely dictate what health issues and diseases are studied.

In this Essay, I argue that the challenge of agenda-setting that occurs in research funding is a consequence of a larger phenomenon in global health, “multi-bi financing.”

Multilateral funding refers to monies given to an organization that involves two or more governments or other institutions, the prime example being the United Nations; bilateral funding refers to monies given from one government or institution to another such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID) grants to Haiti.

Multi-bi financing refers to the practice of donors choosing to route non-core funding—earmarked for specific sectors, themes, countries, or regions—through multilateral agencies and to the emergence of new multistakeholder initiatives. Drawing on insights from political science and international relations, I put forward an explanation for why these developments are occurring and discuss the consequences for global health research governance….” [au]

 



KMC/2012/HSS
Twitter
http://twitter.com/eqpaho

 *      *     *
This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]
Washington DC USA

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAHO/WHO Website
Equity List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html
Twitter http://twitter.com/eqpaho Hashtags: #sdoh  #Healthequity

 

 

IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended
recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or
confidential information. If you are not the intended
recipient or a person responsible for delivering this
transmission to the intended recipient, you may not
disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take
any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission
in error, please dispose of and delete this transmission.

Thank you.

1 comment:

Ed said...

Interesting read on health Equity an health research.