"Donor Funding for Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, 2001-2006," Kaiser Family Foundation: The report examines trends in official development assistance for health issues provided by donor governments, such as the U.S. and European countries, and the European Commission and multilateral institutions. According to the report, health funding increased from $7.2 billion in 2001 to $20.1 billion in 2006, an increase of 179%. In addition, health funding represented 17% of overall official development assistance in 2006, an increase from 13% in 2001. The U.S., including funding for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is the single largest donor for health and accounts for one-quarter of all commitments in 2006, according to the report. European nations collectively represent one-third of health assistance, with the European Commission providing an additional 6%. Despite these recent increases, the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health estimates that funding still does not meet the need (KFF release, 7/28).

A Webcast of a briefing held by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies about outcomes of the recent Group of Eight industrialized nations summit in Japan is available online.