March 9, 2022

Health aid vs health needs: Mismatch created by donor ‘experts’ & INGOs

Baccini, Heinzel and Koenig-Archibugi demonstrate that peer influences in the networks of Global North advocates and ‘experts’ drives global health priorities that are frequently misaligned with the needs of low income country aid recipients. Their analysis attempts to quantify the degree of mismatch over time and by donor country. They found that networks of professionals among donors and INGOs with authoritative claims to policy-relevant knowledge are responsible for a substantial part of the allocation of health aid across disease categories and recipients from 1990-2017. Moreover, donors tend to follow other donors in their choices of target diseases and countries for health assistance.  No surprise, but important documentation.