Applications of Finance in Global Health

The past 60 years have seen tremendous gains in global health, however there is still work to be done to achieve the targets set under the health and well-being Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Against this backdrop, are the emerging trends in development finance which have resulted in significant funding gaps. Since reaching an all time high in 2013, development assistance for health has remained stagnant. This, coupled with insufficient government spending on health, has resulted in a $314 billion annual investment gap for the health SDG in low- and middle-income countries. By 2030, the estimated funding gap is projected to increase to $371 billion. Added to this is the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its as yet unknown long-term impact on countries’ health systems and indicators. Traditional grant funding alone cannot fill these gaps and address these challenges--this presents donors and country governments with an opportunity to fill this need in innovative ways. In this webinar, we discussed the role that blended finance can play in helping to close the funding gap, improve health outcomes, and address the impact of COVID-19. The audience learned about the Blended Finance Roadmap, a practical resource to help USAID, donors and partners identify blended finance opportunities to achieve health goals.   

Speaker bios:

Priya Sharma is an Investment Officer in the Private Sector Engagement Hub at USAID. In her current role, Priya provides technical support and assistance to USAID Missions and Operating Units interested in leveraging private capital to support their programs and help achieve their development outcomes. Priya previously worked as the Senior Policy and Innovative Financing Advisor in the Global Health Bureau’s Center for Innovation and Impact where she managed USAID’s  first global health development impact bond, and co-authored a number of resources including Investing for Impact and Greater than the Sum of its Parts: Blended Finance Roadmap for Global Health. Prior to joining USAID, Priya worked as health economist at the Office of Health Economics in London, where she researched and advised pharmaceutical companies on a variety of topics including market incentives for the development of antibiotics, and pricing and reimbursement of new products.  Priya has also worked at the Center for Global Development and the RAND Corporation.

Priya received her MSc in International Health Policy (with Health Economics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and she completed her undergraduate studies at Tufts University. 

Amy Lin leads USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact (CII), which applies market-based approaches like market shaping, innovative financing, and enabling innovation to global health challenges. Previously, Amy was based in Mumbai with Monitor Inclusive Markets, where she developed social enterprise models. Prior to this role, she served as the HIV/AIDS Program Director for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Liberia. Before CHAI, Amy was at the World Bank’s Development Marketplace, which funds new approaches to serving the poor. Amy also worked with TechnoServe in Peru, creating growth strategies for microbusinesses. Earlier, she was with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), advising multinational companies in the pharmaceutical, financial services, and consumer goods industries.

Amy holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a BA with Distinction in Political Science from Yale University.

Kristi Ragan has decades of experience working with the private sector to improve development outcomes.  She is currently the DAI Chief of Party on USAID INVEST where she manages a $167 million buy-in mechanism that helps USAID catalyze private capital. Ms. Ragan’s work focuses on managing a diverse set of new and underutilized partners in over 64 countries to deliver tailored support that combines the private sector’s capital, expertise, markets and technologies. Her previous three USAID Chief of Party positions supported Global Development Alliances, Grand Challenges for Development and the Lab’s work on innovation.    During her more than three decades in international development she has worked in Asia, Africa, Central America, the Middle East and the Pacific. She spent more than 10 years working with the United Nations Development Programme in senior positions in country offices and in the Administrator’s office in UN Headquarters.  Ms. Ragan is an accomplished communicator and trainer and is an Adjunct Professor for Georgetown University, American University and Bay Atlantic University where she teaches graduate courses in international development, designing for innovation and public-private partnerships. She was appointed Peace Corps Country Director in Côte d’Ivoire and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in both Tanzania and Fiji. 

Gene Peuse  has 30 plus years managing USAID funded projects focused on institutional capacity building, human resource development and public private sector partnering in Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania. 13 years with the Peace Corps as agriculture volunteer (Cameroon), Area Recruitment Mgr (Illinois/Indiana), Regional Adviser (Southern Africa), and Country Director (South Africa).  Education: PhD and EdM in international agricultural education/extension (University of Illinois-Urbana) and BA English Education (University of Iowa).