Relation between disease-specific foreign aid for child health and burden of disease in sub-Saharan African countries

Abstract

Background Foreign aid for health has increased substantially in the past two decades. However, there is limited information on the relation between the distribution of foreign aid for health and the actual burden of disease in diff erent diseases and age groups, particularly children. We examined the association between disease-specifi c foreign aid for children (FACH) and burden of disease. Methods Burden of disease data including estimates of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) were derived from the WHO Global Health Estimates resource for 2000-11. Children 0-5 years of age in sub-Saharan African countries were examined and the number of DALYs lost for the top 15 diseases calculated. Data for foreign aid were derived from the AidData dataset, which includes descriptions of all foreign aid donations. We constructed an instrument that searched the text of each description for words indicative of a certain disease, such as "malaria" or "bed-net", and designated child or infant in the age category. Findings Overall, the amount of FACH increased substantially during the period 1996-2009, from US$3•5 billion in 1996 to US$13•5 billion in 2009. The relation between the burden of disease and the amount of disease-specifi c FACH was mixed. For example, diarrhoeal diseases were responsible for 19% of DALYs lost in 2009, and were targeted with 21% of FACH. By contrast, the amount of FACH targeted towards HIV in 2009 (5•5%) was much more than the that of lost DALYs caused by HIV (23%). Pneumonia, however, was responsible for the most DALYs lost in 2009 (29%) yet received only 0•6% of all FACH. Interpretation Our fi ndings suggest that the relation between the distribution of foreign aid for child health and burden of disease in sub-Saharan African countries is mixed. Further work is needed to analyse present distribution patterns of foreign aid for child health and to advise future distribution Funding None.