Nothing changes - health aid still fails for the poorest

Dec 11 2005

A study by the World Bank into the impact of health programmes aimed at helping the poorest people in developing countries, warns they are more likely to benefit the wealthier groups in their society.

It seems that health aid in schemes across 20 nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, are failing the poor.

The report found health programmes as a rule end up reaching people in better-off groups more frequently, and this was apparently the case in both the private and public sector schemes.

According to the report the richest 20% of the population received more, or as much as, of the government's subsidised maternal and child healthcare services as the poorest 20%.

What is more this was the case across almost all of the 20 countries surveyed.

The report's co-author Davidson Gwatkin says it demonstrates that there is a huge difference between just thinking you're reaching the poor with beneficial healthcare services, and actually succeeding.

The study was sponsored by the Dutch and Swedish governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity of Microsoft boss Bill Gates.

But on an optimistic note there were some exceptions to the rule, such as a Mexican scheme which helps poor families pay for their medical care and school attendance for their children.

In this particular programme, 60% of the benefits went to the poorest 20% of the country's population.