The G20 and development assistance for health: historical trends and crucial questions to inform a new era

Abstract

One of the most important gatherings of the world’s economic leaders, the G20 Summit and ministerial meetings, takes place in June 2019. The Summit presents a valuable opportunity to reflect on the provision and receipt of development assistance for health (DAH) and the role the G20 can have in shaping the future of health financing. The participants at the G20 Summit (i.e., the world’s largest providers of DAH, emerging donors, and DAH recipients) and this Summit’s particular focus on global health and the Sustainable Development Goals offers a unique forum to consider the changing DAH context and its pressing questions. In this Health Policy perspective, we examined trends in DAH and its evolution over time, with a particular focus on G20 countries; pointed to persistent and emerging challenges for discussion at the G20 Summit; and highlighted key questions for G20 leaders to address to put the future of DAH on course to meet the expansive Sustainable Development Goals. Key questions include how to best focus DAH for equitable health gains, how to deliver DAH to strengthen health systems, and how to support domestic resource mobilization and transformative partnerships for sustainable impact. These issues are discussed in the context of the growing effects of climate change, demographic and epidemiological transitions, and a global political shift toward increasing prioritization of national interests. Although not all these questions are new, novel approaches to allocating DAH that prioritize equity, efficiency, and sustainability, particularly through domestic resource use and mobilization, are needed. Wrestling with difficult questions in a changing landscape is essential to develop a DAH financing system capable of supporting and sustaining crucial global health goals.