Study looking at impact of HIV funding on Rwanda's health system has 'serious limitations'

May 11 2012

In this post on the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Research Fellow Victoria Fan, Director of Global Health Policy Amanda Glassman, and Research Assistant Rachel Silverman of the Center for Global Development (CGD) examine what they call the "serious limitations" of a study published recently in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene that looked at the impact of HIV/AIDS funding on Rwanda's health system. After describing several "shortcomings," they write, "We understand that the authors likely suffered from significant data constraints; likewise, we recognize the enormous empirical challenges in demonstrating system-wide effects at the national level. Still, it remains important to carefully state results and recognize the limitations of one's research." They conclude, "The jury is still out on whether HIV/AIDS funding has displaced or improved efforts on other disease control priorities" (5/10).