Tony Odokonyero presents his study on the impact of aid on health outcomes in Uganda during the East African Symposium on Aid Effectiveness held in Kampala. Photo by Mouris Opolot
Tony Odokonyero, a Research Analyst with Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) has said that evidence on the effectiveness of aid towards Uganda’s health sector is mixed.
He made the observation based on research he conducted with Alex T Ijjo and others, during the East African Symposium on Aid Effectiveness and Health Systems Development held on 15 & 16 Agugust, 2018 at Serena Hotel Kampala.
Foreign aid channeled to health, he said has helped reduce infant mortality, disease severity, and diarrhea prevalence as well as increase life expectancy.
He however, also said that health aid is jostled by corruption and poor project implementation. He added that there is large health aid inflow but many health indicators are still unimpressive and below desirable global health standards.
Odokonyero told the symposium that most of the aid is focused to develop health infrastructure & systems, which are vital for Universal Health Coverage agenda.
To ensure better results, Odokonyero recommended that aid must be channeled to the lowest level possible to meet the demands of people with worst economic conditions. The top bottom approach he said leads to leakages.
A research brief titled Aid Effectiveness Assessment by ReBuild Consortium states that Local governments have become more central in aid management.
Odokonyero also called for tracking of aid and proper monitoring and evaluation. Success of such undertakings he said, is among others determined by geographic location of beneficiaries.
Participating in the same meeting was Marios Obwona an Economist with the National Planning Authority who warned that aid increases public consumption and not investment. He added that aid may be unfairly distributed due to strategic reasons and that in addition to being volatile, aid induces dependence weakening government capacity.