Global health programs are reaching the poor, aren't they?

No, says a new World Bank study: "Reaching the Poor with Health, Population and Nutrition Services: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why."

A fast-growing body of empirical evidence has exposed as incorrect any assumption that spending on health necessarily means reaching and serving poor people.

Despite growing concern about health inequity, little is known about how to fix the problem. This study is a promising start, highlighting a useful measurement tool called benefit-incidence analysis used to assess how well 11 different programs reached poor people. Through case studies, the report offers policymakers a menu of strategies, but most "are unique, with no assurance that the approach concerned would be effective in some other setting or in dealing with some other disease or service."What works where? To help shed light on this important question, CGD's Global Health Policy Research Network is preparing to launch a working group on performance-based incentives that will explore how this innovation can be used to deliver more and better health services to the poor.