Improving Effectiveness and Outcomes for the Poor in Health, Nutrition, and Population
The Bank Group now funds a smaller share of global support for health, nutrition, and population (HNP) than it did a decade ago, but its support remains significant-$17 billion in country-level project financing, in addition to policy advice, analy...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/01/12815455/improving-effectiveness-outcomes-poor-health-nutrition-population http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10573 |
| Summary: | The Bank Group now funds a smaller share
of global support for health, nutrition, and population
(HNP) than it did a decade ago, but its support remains
significant-$17 billion in country-level project financing,
in addition to policy advice, analytic work, and engagement
in global partnerships by the World Bank and $873 million in
private health and pharmaceutical investments by
International Finance Corporation (IFC) from 1997 to
mid-2008. The Bank Group continues to play an important role
and add value in HNP. About two-thirds of the Bank's
HNP projects show satisfactory outcomes. Performance can be
substantially improved by reducing project complexity,
strengthening risk assessment and mitigation, conducting
more up-front institutional analysis, and incorporating more
evaluation to promote evidence-based decisions. The
performance of IFC health investments, mainly hospitals, has
improved markedly, but IFC has had limited success at
diversifying its health portfolio. The Bank's
investments often have a pro-poor focus, but their
objectives need to address the poor explicitly and outcomes
among the poor need to be monitored. Importantly, the Bank
needs to increase support to reduce high fertility and
malnutrition among the poor and ensure discussion of HNP in
poverty assessments. IFC-financed hospitals mainly benefit
the non-poor; IFC needs to support more activities that both
make business sense and yield broader benefits for the poor.
Adding HNP objectives to Bank projects in other sectors,
such as water supply and sanitation, raises the incentive to
deliver health benefits. Strengthening the complementarity
of investments in HNP and other sectors can also improve
outcomes. In IFC, incentives, institutional mechanisms, and
an integrated approach to health are needed to improve
coordination across units. |
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