How can smart health financing and integrated care come together to deliver better health outcomes and accelerate progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC)? This was the central question explored during a high-level side event at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) in Geneva,...
The global health landscape is not merely shifting - it has fractured. The much anticipated “2026 Funding Cliff” has arrived, bringing with it a sharp retrenchment in development assistance for health. Between 2024 and 2025 alone, global aid flows declined by 21 percent, driven largely by a dramatic contraction in major bilateral financing. A recent analysis published in The Lancet Global Health warns that such abrupt reductions risk millions of preventable deaths by 2030, threatening to undo two decades of hard-won progress in controlling infectious diseases.
In an era of unprecedented global challenges—from climate-related disasters to pandemics and political conflicts—health systems worldwide are under immense strain. Sustainable and strategic financing arrangements are essential for building resilient, people-centered primary health care (PHC) systems that can maintain essential functions during these crises. Yet countries face persistent financing challenges: budgeting remains largely input-based, allocations are not made directly to PHC facilities, sub-national actors often lack flexibility to reallocate funds to respond to emergency needs, funds are unpredictable and usage rates are low given rigid public financial management processes
