 Policies to improve the equity and efficiency of health financing can play a critical role in strengthening health outcomes in the developing world. However, such policies must be built on a foundation of sound evidence and analysis. National Health Accounts (NHA) provide national decision makers with essential financial information on a country’s health system, and facilitate more sustainable, equitable and efficient allocation of resources, sometimes triangulated with other data.
Historically, a major challenge in using NHA for decision making has been the weak link between data production and its application by key stakeholders who could make use of the NHA to inform policy. A second major constraint in NHA institutionalization has been the absence of attention to developing a long-term strategy for ownership and capacity building that takes realistic account of the country’s unique resource environment. Experience from country leaders and technical experts from more than 50 countries have resulted in a strategic guide (PDF 3.19MB) and synthesis of case studies of lessons learned from countries at different stages of the journey towards institutionalization. There is strong consensus that NHA should not done as an isolated exercise and a framework has emerged that firmly places resource activities in a cycle of activities that is rooted in key health policy issues at the country level. 
RESOURCE TRACKING FOR BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES 6-7 OCTOBER 2011, OECD Headquarters, Paris With the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with development partners, the World Bank has been coordinating a global initiative to improve resource tracking for better health outcomes and greater health systems accountability through institutionalisation of National Health Accounts. The findings of this global initiative were presented and discussed at a high-level meeting which was co-hosted by the OECD and the World Bank at the headquarters of the OECD in Paris on 6-7 October 2011 . The purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for country leaders and other stakeholders to share their experiences and learn from one another, on the effective and sustained use of NHA under country ownership, to inform policy and to achieve greater governance, accountability and transparency Participants | Objectives | Documents | Key Take-Aways | Photos more.... |
As part of a global effort to promote the institutionalization of National Health Accounts (NHA) as a tool for better allocation of public, donor and private health expenditures at the country level, the World Bank has since 2008 coordinated an effort to collate lessons learned from countries at different stages of the journey towards institutionalization. Policy makers and technical experts from more than 50 countries have contributed to this global initiative through an extensive consultative process involving low-, middle and high-income countries, large and small, from all corners of the world. 
Findings can be found in a report that is intended to serve as a strategic guide (PDF 3.19MB), helping countries build greater ownership of the process of designing, implementing, and integrating NHA into their planning, budgeting, and monitoring processes. A companion document entitled "Harnessing National Health Accounts to Strengthen Policymaking" provides detailed case studies of 14 countries that span multiple regions and income levels—namely, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Georgia, India, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Mali, the Philippines, Serbia, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Thailand, and Turkey. | Project Reports | Workshop and Country Information | | | | Tools | Useful Information and Links | | |
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