title: Government financing for health and specific national budget lines: the case of vaccines and immunization.
abstract: A long standing question related to immunization financing and sustainability has been whether the existence of a specific line item for vaccines purchasing within the national health budget can contribute significantly to increasing national government financing of vaccines and routine immunizations. Based on immunization financing indicators from 185 countries collected through the joint WHO and UNICEF monitoring system, this paper attempts to answer this policy question. The study will present findings related to the status of countries that have such specific budget lines for purchasing vaccines and the levels of national budgetary allocation to the financing of vaccines and immunizations, particularly in low-income countries. The analysis shows evidence that the existence ofa specific line in the national budget is associated with increased governmental budget allocations for vaccines and routine immunization financing.
authors.affiliation: Immunization Vaccines and Biologicals Department (IVB), Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), World Health Organization (WHO), Office: M235, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. lydonp@who.int
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lydon
authors.forename: Pa Lamin
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Beyai
authors.forename: Irtaza
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chaudhri
authors.forename: Niyazi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cakmak
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Satoulou
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dumolard
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets / Q000639:trends*; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D014480:United Nations; D014612:Vaccines / Q000191:economics; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines