HIGH LEVEL TASKFORCE ON INTERNATIONAL INNOVATIVE FINANCING FOR HEALTH SYSTEMS
Background
25 SEPTEMBER 2008 | NEW YORK - At the UN High Level Event in New York on 25 September 2008, world leaders called for an additional US$30 billion to save 10 million lives – 3 million mothers and 7 million children. Stronger health systems are critical to saving these lives and building these systems will also require more resources from the international community. For this reason, a High Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems (Taskforce) was announced.
Taskforce objectives and mandate
The objectives of the Taskforce are to contribute to filling national financing gaps to reach the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through: mobilizing additional resources; increasing the financial efficiency of health financing; and enhancing the effective use of funds. The Taskforce's mandate is to make recommendations on the mix of innovative international financing mechanisms needed to deliver the extra resources required to achieve the MDGs and promote international support for these recommendations to ensure they are implemented. Link to more information on why the Taskforce was set up on the WHY link on the right.
The initial Taskforce report is to be presented to the G8 in July 2009. A final report is to be presented at the UN General Assembly and the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in September 2009.
Who is in the High Level Taskforce?
The members of the Taskforce comprise a small number of leading figures in the international community selected on the basis of the perspectives they can each offer on innovative financing, health systems or political feasibility. The Taskforce has been supported by two technical working groups:
- Working Group 1 on Costs and Contstraints
- Working Group 2 on Innovative Mechanisms and Chanelling
A full list of the Taskforce and Working Group I and II members can be found on the HLTF members link above and on the right.
HLTF Report released
29 MAY 2009 | PARIS The report of the Taskforce on International Innovative Financing for Health Systems, co-chaired by Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister and Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, was completed on 29th May at the third Taskforce meeting held in Paris. All Taskforce members agreed to a final report and set of recommendations that includes a range of innovative financing options that countries and other stakeholders can choose to support.
Link to the Taskforce Press release and key messages from the link above, on the right.
Contribution of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) has been involved in the work of the Taskforce in three main avenues:
- Representation on the Task Force: PMNCH provided important contributions to the work of the High-Level Task Force. Two Partnership members were key members of Working Group I, which oversaw the work on estimating the costs and the financing gap: Dr. Flavia Bustreo, Director a.i., PMNCH, and Dr. Helga Fogstad, Coordinator Health and HIV/AIDS, NORAD and Board member, PMNCH.
- Costing estimates: Two team developed separate costing estimates for WGI and subsequently used as well by WG II. The first team included PMNCH members: UNICEF, World Bank, and UNFPA as well as Mr Henrik Axelson, Health Economist for PMNCH. The other costing estimate was developed by WHO and UNAIDS. The methodology and findings of these two analyses can be found in the reports of WG1
- Civil society consultation : Several civil society organizations of PMNCH have contributed to the civil society consultations which have taken place including in London in March 2009, Johannesburg May 2009 and Abuja in May 2009. These included: ActionAid International, Family Care International, White Ribbon Alliance, and several other organizations based in low- and middle-income countries.
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