Publications WHO: New perspectives on global health spending for universal health coverage

This WHO global health financing report summarizes the latest internationally comparable data on health spending in all WHO Member States between 2000 and 2015. But it does more than publish the most recent data. For the first time the report uses the new international classification for health expenditures in the revised System of Health Accounts. This new framework enables the presentation of detailed information on the role of governments, households and donors in funding health services, and the financing arrangements through which these funds are channelled and spent.

The report summarizes key global health expenditure patterns and trends, and illustrates the potential of the new database to inform thinking about financing reforms to progress towards UHC, and also raises issues for further research. It analyses the following areas:

  • How much the world spends on health
  • Levels of public spending on health
  • The role of official development assistance
  • Global spending on health through out-of-pocket payment
  • the mix of revenue sources for spending through social health insurance