Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR

The framework presented in the World Bank report Open and Inclusive: Fair processes for Financing Universal Health Coverage effectively connects proposed decision-making principles with practical examples that country governments can use to pursue greater fairness. In this commentary, we consider th...

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Main Authors: Sara Bennett, Maria W. Merritt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Health Economics, Policy and Law
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1744133124000276/type/journal_article
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author Sara Bennett
Maria W. Merritt
author_facet Sara Bennett
Maria W. Merritt
author_sort Sara Bennett
collection DOAJ
description The framework presented in the World Bank report Open and Inclusive: Fair processes for Financing Universal Health Coverage effectively connects proposed decision-making principles with practical examples that country governments can use to pursue greater fairness. In this commentary, we consider the suggestion that international development partners might use the report's criteria to examine their own processes. We consider what the report's primary Fair Process principles – equality, impartiality and consistency – imply for development partners. Specifically, we address two questions in turn: (i) how relevant the Fair Processes report is to development assistance for health; (ii) if it is deemed relevant, what practical implications does the report have for how aid works? We address the second question by briefly applying the framework to a particular global health initiative, namely the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Our analysis suggests that development partners' additional sets of accountabilities, particularly linked to funding sources, may pose more fundamental challenges to impartiality than to equality and consistency in decision-making processes. A question inviting further examination, then, is how development partners can redesign their processes to optimise impartiality given institutional constraints that bind them independently of the populations they purport to serve.
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spelling doaj-art-78fe43752a88486c843fbc73f96da3f92025-08-20T02:40:30ZengCambridge University PressHealth Economics, Policy and Law1744-13311744-134X2025-01-0120263310.1017/S1744133124000276Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFARSara Bennett0Maria W. Merritt1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0651-2405Health Systems Program, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USAHealth Systems Program, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USAThe framework presented in the World Bank report Open and Inclusive: Fair processes for Financing Universal Health Coverage effectively connects proposed decision-making principles with practical examples that country governments can use to pursue greater fairness. In this commentary, we consider the suggestion that international development partners might use the report's criteria to examine their own processes. We consider what the report's primary Fair Process principles – equality, impartiality and consistency – imply for development partners. Specifically, we address two questions in turn: (i) how relevant the Fair Processes report is to development assistance for health; (ii) if it is deemed relevant, what practical implications does the report have for how aid works? We address the second question by briefly applying the framework to a particular global health initiative, namely the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Our analysis suggests that development partners' additional sets of accountabilities, particularly linked to funding sources, may pose more fundamental challenges to impartiality than to equality and consistency in decision-making processes. A question inviting further examination, then, is how development partners can redesign their processes to optimise impartiality given institutional constraints that bind them independently of the populations they purport to serve.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1744133124000276/type/journal_articleglobal healthinclusive decision-makingprocedural justice
spellingShingle Sara Bennett
Maria W. Merritt
Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR
Health Economics, Policy and Law
global health
inclusive decision-making
procedural justice
title Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR
title_full Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR
title_fullStr Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR
title_full_unstemmed Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR
title_short Implications of the fair processes for financing UHC report for development assistance: reflections and an application of the decision-making principles to PEPFAR
title_sort implications of the fair processes for financing uhc report for development assistance reflections and an application of the decision making principles to pepfar
topic global health
inclusive decision-making
procedural justice
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S1744133124000276/type/journal_article
work_keys_str_mv AT sarabennett implicationsofthefairprocessesforfinancinguhcreportfordevelopmentassistancereflectionsandanapplicationofthedecisionmakingprinciplestopepfar
AT mariawmerritt implicationsofthefairprocessesforfinancinguhcreportfordevelopmentassistancereflectionsandanapplicationofthedecisionmakingprinciplestopepfar