Center for Global Development hosted a brown bag seminar on Health Aid and Infant Mortality featuring Prachi Mishra, Research Department, International Monetary Fund and David Newhouse, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund. David Roodman, Research Fellow, Center for Global Development served as the discussant and Michael Clemens, Research Fellow, Center for Global Development chaired the session.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between health aid and infant mortality, using data from 118 countries between 1973 and 2004. Health aid has a statistically significant effect on infant mortality: doubling per capita health aid is associated with a 2 percent reduction in the infant mortality rate. For the average country, this implies that increasing per capita health aid by US$1.60 per year is associated with 1.5 fewer infant deaths per thousand births. The estimated effect is small, relative to the targets envisioned by the Millennium Development Goals.
Download Health Aid and Infant Mortality paper
