"Making Performance-Based Funding Work for Health," PLoS Medicine: Daniel Low-Beer of the Judge Business School at Cambridge University and colleagues examined the effectiveness of performance-based funding to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries. The researchers examined performance-based funding allocated by the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which provides money based on demonstrated results and progress toward goals that are set during the initial grant agreement. The study found that 75% of country programs reached their goals and used funding to deliver HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria services. It also found that 21% of the country programs did not reach their goals but demonstrated the potential to increase treatment and prevention efforts and meet future goals. Four percent of the programs had inadequate results, according to the study.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the poorest one-third of participating countries performed no worse than wealthier countries or other regions, according to the study. The researchers said that performance-based funding is effective if goals are set and countries work toward their goals based on individual circumstances. The study concluded that performance-based funding provides an incentive to scale up the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria (Low-Beer et al., PLoS Medicine, August 2007).