The US government’s efforts to improve effectiveness

Abstract

What is the Scope of US Health Assistance? US global health assistance through the Department of State and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is focused on nine global health challenges. It also recognizes the primacy of building health systems, but uses the more specific listing of challenges to plan funding and report performance. There is overlap among the categories of health assistance, particularly with maternal and child health and the other categories, but the gaps in apparent coverage are more important. Accidents, mental health, cancers, and aging are among the sizeable health problems that are not targets for assistance programs. Although this selection of priorities can be justified on the basis of the need to focus resources where US assistance can have the most impact in developing countries, it is not expressly defended and represents a longstanding, albeit informal, compact between both major parties in Congress and the Administration.