Scaling up Global Social Health Protection: Prerequisite Reforms to the International Monetary Fund

Ooms, Gorik; Hammonds, Rachel

doi:10.2190/hs.39.4.m

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…MacDonald, 2007;Batniji, 2009;Ooms and Hammonds, 2009;Rowden, 2009;Stuckler and Basu, 2009;Baker, 2010). Moreover, wage ceilings, particularly in the health sector -that is, limits on the amount that a government can spend on wages -prevent desirable increases in health employment.…”

Section: Imf-supported Programmes and Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

What happens to social spending in IMF-supported programmes?

2013

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This article finds that education and health spending has risen during International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported programmes at a faster pace than in developing countries as a whole. The analysis is based on the most comprehensive dataset assembled thus far for this purpose, with data covering 1985 to 2009 for 140 countries. Controlling for other determinants of education and health spending, including macroeconomic conditions, the results confirm that IMF-supported programmes have a positive and significant effect on social spending in low-income countries. Over a 5-year period with IMF-supported programmes, spending for education increases by about g percentage point of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and for health, by about 1 percentage point of GDP. IMF-supported programmes are also associated with increases in the share of government spending allocated to education and health.

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Section: Imf-supported Programmes and Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

What happens to social spending in IMF-supported programmes?

2013

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“…In relation to health, the IMF has long been criticized for impeding the development of public health systems (Baker, 2010;Batniji, 2009;Benson, 2001;Benton & Dionne, 2015;Cornia, Jolly, & Stewart, 1987;Goldsbrough, 2007;Kentikelenis, King, McKee, & Stuckler, 2015; Kentikelenis, Stubbs, & King, 2015;Ooms & Hammonds, 2009;Stuckler, Basu, & McKee, 2011;Stuckler, King, & Basu, 2008;Stuckler & Basu, 2009). For example, a recent qualitative analysis of IMF programmes in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone found that the organization contributed to the failure of health systems to develop, thereby exacerbating the Ebola crisis (Kentikelenis et al, 2015a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of IMF conditionality on government health expenditure: A cross-national analysis of 16 West African nations

Stubbs¹,

Kentikelenis²,

Stuckler³

et al. 2017

Social Science & Medicine

142

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How do International Monetary Fund (IMF) policy reforms-so-called 'conditionalities'-affect government health expenditures? We collected archival documents on IMF programmes from 1995 to 2014 to identify the pathways and impact of conditionality on government health spending in 16 West African countries. Based on a qualitative analysis of the data, we find that IMF policy reforms reduce fiscal space for investment in health, limit staff expansion of doctors and nurses, and lead to budget execution challenges in health systems. Further, we use cross-national fixed effects models to evaluate the relationship between IMF-mandated policy reforms and government health spending, adjusting for confounding economic and demographic factors and for selection bias. Each additional binding IMF policy reform reduces government health expenditure per capita by 0.248 percent (95% CI -0.435 to -0.060). Overall, our findings suggest that IMF conditionality impedes progress toward the attainment of universal health coverage.

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“…Major funders can have a significant impact on overall financial flows; International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists are advising that countries divert aid to reserves because of concerns about its unreliable and unpredictable nature, and the desire to privatize health care services rather than perpetuate state-run health care operations [74],[75]. A recent study found that when countries are borrowing from the IMF more than 98% of aid is diverted to reserves or displacing government spending on health [75].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%