World Bank, Global Fund to boost financing for maternal, child health

The World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) announced Wednesday a new partnership to expand access to essential health services for women and children through results- based financing (RBF) and accelerate progress on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This partnership will identify opportunities to enable the inclusion of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis services in RBF projects funded by the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) and the World Bank-managed Health Results Innovation Trust Fund (HRITF) focusing on the integration of services; scale up existing RBF programs to cover larger geographical areas for greater reach and impact; and collaborate to ensure a more effective supply chain for essential health commodities to reach the populations most in need, the Washington- based World Bank said in a statement.

"Evidence shows that results-based financing has a significant impact -- saving lives and expanding access to quality, essential health services for the poorest women and children in developing countries," said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. "The World Bank is pleased to partner with the Global Fund to help countries scale up these successful programs."

Since 2007, the HRITF has supported 36 RBF programs in 31 countries, and about 75 percent of HRITF funding supports programs in sub-Saharan Africa, which bears over half the global burden of maternal mortality. Data from implementing IDA and HRITF-supported programs around the world show that RBF approaches are increasing coverage and quality of key maternal and child health services and also making country health systems more efficient, and more accountable, said the World Bank.

RBF for health refers to any program that transfers money or goods to either patients when they take health-related actions such as having their children immunized or to healthcare providers, when they achieve performance targets such as immunizing a certain percentage of children in a given area.

The Global Fund is an international financing institution that fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, working with partners to support the most effective prevention and treatment.