The Western Pacific region faces a multitude of public health issues that need attention: Noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes are rising, while communicable diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis remain persistent.
Against this backdrop of need is an aid landscape that’s shrinking, particularly for middle-income countries, and prompting a search for other funding sources. The South Pacific island nation of Fiji, for example, is currently looking at alternative sources of financing such as social impact bonds and public-private partnerships as it prepares to transition out of Global Fund support in 2017.
But how countries address the funding gap is just one part of the equation when it comes to trying to meet their health needs, argued experts at the World Health Organization during a recent session on how countries can strengthen their domestic financing for health at the U.N. aid agency’s regional office in Manila, Philippines.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
