An Index of the Quality of Official Development Assistance in Health - Working Paper 287

Health is one of the largest and most complex aid sectors: 16 percent of all aid went to the health sector in 2009. While many stress the importance of aid effectiveness, there are limited quantitative analyses of the quality of health aid. In this paper, we apply Birdsall and Kharas’s Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) methodology to rank donors across 23 indicators of aid effectiveness in health. We present our results, track progress from 2008 to 2009, compare health to overall aid, discuss our limitations, and call for more transparent and relevant aid data in the sector level as well as the need to focus on impact and resultsofficial development assistance, health

Performance-based fi nancing at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: an analysis of grant ratings and funding, 2003–12

Background Performance-based fi nancing can be used by global health funding agencies to improve programme performance and thus value for money. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was one of the fi rst global-health funders to deploy a performance-based fi nancing system. However, its complex, multistep system for calculating and paying on grant ratings has several components that are subjective and discretionary. We aimed to test the association between grant ratings and disbursements, an indication of the extent to which incentives for performance are transmitted to grant recipients. Methods We obtained publicly available data for 508 Global Fund grants from 2003 to 2012 with performance ratings and corresponding disbursements, merged with other datasets that contained data for relevant country characteristics. We used regression analysis to identify predictors of grant disbursements in phase 2 (typically the latter 3 of 5 years of a grant), using two dependent variables: whether a grant had any phase-2 disbursements, and the phase-2 disbursement amount. In a separate analysis, we also investigated the predictors of grant performance ratings. Findings Grant performance rating in phase 1 was positively associated with having any disbursements in phase 2, but no association was seen between phase-1 ratings and phase-2 disbursement amounts. Further more, performance ratings are not replicable by external observers, both because subjective and discretionary decisions are made in the generation of performance measures and because the underlying data are not available. Interpretation The Global Fund’s present performance-based funding system does not adequately convey incentives for performance to recipients, and the organisation should redesign this system to explicitly link a portion of the funds to a simple performance measure in health coverage or outcomes, measured independently and robustly

Apoptotic Effect Of Neferine On Cervical Cancer Cells (HeLa)

INTRODUCTION: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in worldwide and the leading cause of death among gynecological cancers. Neferine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the seed embryo of Nelumbo Nucifera. Studies have shown that Neferine has anticancer effects on a variety of human cancer cells. Neferine can induce apoptosis in cancer cells by various mechanisms. In this article; we aimed to show the apoptotic effects of neferin, a natural compound on HeLa cells. METHODS: In this experimental study, 1 human cervical cancer cell line and 1 human embryonic kidney cell line as a control group were used. Cell cultures were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. 3-4,5-dimethyl-thiazolyl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test was performed to determine the maximal inhibition concentration dose of neferin. Expression levels of apoptotic genes and antiapoptotic genes were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The study was repeated in triplicate. RESULTS: The maximal inhibition concentration dose at which neferin inhibited the viability of human cervical cancer cells was determined as 20 micromol. Also, Neferin increased the level of apoptotic genes while decreasing the level of antiapoptotic genes. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Neferin induced apoptosis by activating the expression of apoptotic genes on human cervical cancer cells

Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Maternal and Newborn Health

Maternal and newborn health (MNH) is a high priority for global health and is included among the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, the slow decline in maternal and newborn mortality jeopardizes achievements of the targets of MDGs. According to UNICEF, 60 million women give birth outside of health facilities, and family planning needs are satisfied for only 50%. Further, skilled birth attendance and the use of antenatal care are most inequitably distributed in maternal and newborn health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes have been shown to increase health service utilization among the poorest but little is written on the effects of such programmes on maternal and newborn health. We carried out a systematic review of studies on CCT that report maternal and newborn health outcomes, including studies from 8 countries. The CCT programmes have increased antenatal visits, skilled attendance at birth, delivery at a health facility, and tetanus toxoid vaccination for mothers and reduced the incidence of low birthweight. The programmes have not had a significant impact on fertility while the impact on maternal and newborn mortality has not been welldocumented thus far. Given these positive effects, we make the case for further investment in CCT programmes for maternal and newborn health, noting gaps in knowledge and providing recommendations for better design and evaluation of such programmes. We recommend more rigorous impact evaluations that document impact pathways and take factors, such as cost-effectiveness, into account

Impact of Conditional Cash Transfers on Maternal and Newborn Health

Maternal and newborn health (MNH) is a high priority for global health and is included among the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, the slow decline in maternal and newborn mortality jeopardizes achievements of the targets of MDGs. According to UNICEF, 60 million women give birth outside of health facilities, and family planning needs are satisfied for only 50%. Further, skilled birth attendance and the use of antenatal care are most inequitably distributed in maternal and newborn health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes have been shown to increase health service utilization among the poorest but little is written on the effects of such programmes on maternal and newborn health. We carried out a systematic review of studies on CCT that report maternal and newborn health outcomes, including studies from 8 countries. The CCT programmes have increased antenatal visits, skilled attendance at birth, delivery at a health facility, and tetanus toxoid vaccination for mothers and reduced the incidence of low birthweight. The programmes have not had a significant impact on fertility while the impact on maternal and newborn mortality has not been well-documented thus far. Given these positive effects, we make the case for further investment in CCT programmes for maternal and newborn health, noting gaps in knowledge and providing recommendations for better design and evaluation of such programmes. We recommend more rigorous impact evaluations that document impact pathways and take factors, such as cost-effectiveness, into account

Replication data for: An Index of the Quality of Official Development Assistance in Health

Health is one of the largest and most complex aid sectors: 16 percent of all aid went to the health sector in 2009. While many stress the importance of aid effectiveness, there are limited quantitative analyses of the quality of health aid. In this paper, we apply Birdsall and Kharas'™s Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) methodology to rank donors across 23 indicators of aid effectiveness in health. We present our results, track progress from 2008 to 2009, compare health to overall aid, discuss our limitations, and call for more transparent and relevant aid data in the sector level as well as the need to focus on impact and results

A Commitment to Vaccination Index: Measuring Government Progress toward Global Immunization

Data set for "A Commitment to Vaccination Index: Measuring Government Progress toward Global Immunization." All of the data is found within the Excel spreadsheet

Replication data for: Grant Performance and Payments at the Global Fund

Data set for "Grant Performance and Payment at the Global Fund

HIV/AIDS Intervention Packages in Five Countries: A Review of Budget Data

Data set for "HIV/AIDS Intervention Packages in Five Countries: A Review of Budget Data" The authors construct a sampling frame of 20 of the Global Fund's 'high-impact' countries.' From this frame, five countries - Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, India, the Philippines - are purposely selected for data extraction from the PGAs, as these countries represent significant funding levels and diverse regions and epidemics. In these five countries, they use extracted Global Fund data and publicly available PEPFAR data to compare the financed intervention package