While all corners of the world have been touched by COVID-19, countries’ experiences with the virus have certainly not been universal. Staggering divergences in outcomes between countries—in terms of lives lost, economic carnage, secondary health losses, learning loss, and social trust and cohesion,...

The Global Financing Facility (GFF), launched in 2015, is a partnership backed by a multi-donor World Bank trust fund that aims to “prioritize and scale-up evidence-driven investments to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) interventions” in ...

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to large budget gaps in low- and middle-income countries, with revenues projected to be reduced for years to come. This is the moment for policymakers to consider whether health taxes—levied on tobacco products, alcoholic and sugar-sweetened beverages, and polluting fue...

Despite the considerable interest in Development Impact Bonds, only a few have reached the implementation phase. We use information from stakeholder interviews to describe the design of one DIB in-depth and use lessons from a range of impact bonds to develop recommendations for potential partners to...

Global health action has been remarkably successful at saving lives and preventing illness in many of the world’s poorest countries. This is a key reason that funding for global health initiatives has increased in the last twenty years. Nevertheless, financial support is periodically jeopardiz...

Mental illnesses are among the top causes of disability and disease in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Yet despite the enormous burden that mental ill-health imposes, mental health care remains a truly neglected area of global health policy. 

Donors play a significant role in funding medicines and other commodities in global health. Of the approximately US $28.2 billion spent by donors in 2010, approximately 40% went towards medicines, vaccines and other health commodities, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The efficiency of this spend is th...