Serie de informes de políticas de financiación por el AITF

Financing for Sustainable Progress to Universal Health Coverage

This brief offers a global overview of health spending and highlights the critical role of health expenditure data in shaping policies to achieve the SDG health targets. It calls on countries and global partners to strengthen health expenditure tracking via health accounts to improve policymaking, enhance transparency, and promote accountability.

The brief highlights the need for Member States to put gender equality at the forefront of macroeconomic and fiscal policies. The brief argues while advanced economies have implemented policies to accelerate economic recovery, developing nations lack adequate financing to do the same, leaving women in precarious positions. Today, many countries are implementing austerity measures that limit government spending on essential services, further harming women's economic security. The brief also highlights that high debt levels in developing countries continue to divert resources away from social programs and initiatives that promote gender equality, hindering progress and potentially reversing gains. Overall, the brief advocates for a comprehensive approach to financing gender equality, recognizing the potential of various policy levers and the need for gender-responsive policymaking, including accelerating the reforms of the international financial architecture.

Remittances and diaspora investments are a major source of external private finance crucial for achieving SDGs, but their full potential remains largely untapped. Member States should acknowledge their potential and renew and expand their commitments to maximize their impact to development, ensuring access to formal, affordable, and secure remittance services through supportive regulations, improved payment systems, digital solutions, and promoting financial inclusion for both migrants and their families back home. At the same time, Member States should facilitate and support diaspora investments to homeland SMEs by creating diaspora engagement strategies and supportive environments, capacity-building for diaspora members, involve them in policy development, remove investment barriers, and provide adequate mechanisms to crowd in their investment.

Financing the Pathway Towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Improving Health Sector Priority Setting

This brief argues that taxation policies on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks present a timely and effective strategy for advancing sustainable development while improving public health and well-being. Health taxes not only generate government revenue through higher tax rates but also promote healthier behaviors, leading to improved health outcomes and productivity gains that benefit society as a whole. Over the next five years, increases in tobacco, alcohol, and SSB taxes could generate an additional $3.7 trillion USD in government revenues globally—an average of $740 billion USD per year, equivalent to 12% of global health budgets and 0.75% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).