Tracking Resources for Primary Health Care: A Framework and Practices in Low- and Middle-income Countries

The global health community is broadly in agreement that achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hinges upon both an escalation of the financial resources dedicated to primary health care (PHC) and a more effective use of those resources: more money, better spent. This book introduces and explicates the end-to-end resource tracking and management (RTM) framework, which includes five components that determine effective and efficient financing for PHC: resource mobilization, allocation, utilization, productivity, and targeting.

In addition, this book compiles detailed results from the most recent RTM-based resource tracking efforts for PHC in selected countries. This is to demonstrate how the RTM framework can be used to bring a set of separate resource tracking efforts at different stages of flow of funds into a comprehensive process with an end-to-end "storyline". In order to build a functional PHC system that addresses access, quality, and equity issues, this book highlights the key (public) financing issues that researchers, technical advisors, and policy makers would need to address in addition to more resources.

Readership: Health economists as well as students and researchers who want to work in this area for their career development and to improve the performance of primary health care worldwide.

Dr Hong Wang has over 30 years of experience in health policy, with a focus on health economics, financing and systems in developing countries. He is currently employed at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) as a Senior Program Officer. His responsibilities include taking the leading intellectual and implementation roles in the formulation of Gates Foundation position on the critical issues in health economics, financing and systems, particularly related to primary healthcare (PHC) development; serving as an in-house expert; and managing a grant portfolio focused on improving primary healthcare globally including understanding how PHC financial resources are mobilized, allocated, and spent. Dr Wang also holds a position of affiliate professor at the Department of Global Health, University of Washington.

Prof. Peter Berman (MSc, PhD) is a health economist with forty years of experience in research, policy analysis and development, and training and education in global health. Prof. Berman is Professor and Director, School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and Adjunct Professor of Global Health at the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health. He also contributes as Visiting Professor at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), New Delhi and as advisor to the China National Health Development Research Center for health care financing and health accounts.