Jill Olivier

The view from above: faith and health

An estimated 84% of the worlds population is religiously affiliated.1 Faith is a powerful force in the lives of individuals and communities worldwide. At an individual consumer and provider level, faith can influence both health and behaviours that are relevant for medical practice and care. At a community level, faith-related structures and actors engage in health and development activities that intersect with social determinants of health. At the national level, faith-inspired health providers deliver health care in many contexts.

FAITH-INSPIRED HEALTH CARE PROVISION IN GHANA: MARKET SHARE, REACH TO THE POOR, AND PERFORMANCE

This paper relies on administrative, household surveys and qualitative data to answer three questions about the services provided by faith-inspired health care providers in Ghana, asking: (1) what is the market share of faith-inspired providers as compared to other types of providers; (2) are there differences in market shares among the poor between faith-inspired providers and other types of providers; and (3) how satisfied are patients with the services received and why are patients choosing faith-inspired providers for care? While estimates based on facilities data, especially for hospitals, suggest that the market share of faith-inspired providers is at 30 percent to 40 percent, estimates from household surveys are at less than ten percent. The market share among the poor of faith-inspired providers appears to be similar to that of public providers, but higher than that of private non-religious providers. The qualitative data suggests that the reasons that lead patients to choose faith-inspired providers are not related directly to religion per se, but rather (perhaps indirectly) to the quality of the services provided, including (but not only) through the values of dignity and respect for patients that these facilities exhibit.

Estimating the development assistance for health provided to faith-based organizations, 1990-2013

Background Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have been active in the health sector for decades. Recently, the role of FBOs in global health has been of increased interest. However, little is known about the magnitude and trends in development assistance for health (DAH) channeled through these organizations. Material and Methods Data were collected from the 21 most recent editions of the Report of Voluntary Agencies. These reports provide information on the revenue and expenditure of organizations. Project-level data were also collected and reviewed from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. More than 1,900 non-governmental organizations received funds from at least one of these three organizations. Background information on these organizations was examined by two independent reviewers to identify the amount of funding channeled through FBOs. Results In 2013, total spending by the FBOs identified in the VolAg amounted to US

INCREASED FUNDING FOR AIDS-ENGAGED FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN AFRICA?

1.53 billion. In 1990, FB0s spent 34.1% of total DAH provided by private voluntary organizations reported in the VolAg. In 2013, FBOs expended 31.0%. Funds provided by the Global Fund to FBOs have grown since 2002, amounting to

MARKET SHARE OF FAITH-INSPIRED HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN AFRICA

80.9 million in 2011, or 16.7% of the Global Fund’s contributions to NGOs. In 2011, the Gates Foundation’s contributions to FBOs amounted to

RELIGION, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN GHANA: WHY STATISTICS FROM LARGE SURVEYS DON'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY

7.1 million, or 1.1% of the total provided to NGOs. Conclusion Development assistance partners exhibit a range of preferences with respect to the amount of funds provided to FBOs. Overall, estimates show that FBOS have maintained a substantial and consistent share over time, in line with overall spending in global health on NGOs. These estimates provide the foundation for further research on the spending trends and effectiveness of FBOs in global health.

Mapping Interdisciplinary Communication Between the Disciplines of Religion and Public Health in the Context of HIV/AIDS in Africa

While civil society organizations (CSOs) have been recognized as being critically import to the HIV/AIDS response by multilaterals agencies and governments the extent to which they have been able to access targeted sources of funding remains a much-debated concern. There is evidence that funding for well-established CSOs has increased significantly over the last decade but it has also been suggested that local-level and less formal CSOs still remain largely disconnected from donor funding streams and unaligned with national strategies. Concerns have been raised as to whether the substantial international funding provided for HIV/AIDS has indeed “trickled down” effectively to the local level—and how this may play out in the future especially in the face of increasing resource constraints.

Guest editor conclusion: research agenda-setting for faith and health in development – where to now?

This paper relies on facilities and household survey data to estimate the ‘market share’ of faith-inspired institutions (FIIs) in the provision of health care services in Africa. While estimates based on facilities data, especially for hospitals, often suggest that the market share of FIIs is at 30 percent to 40 percent, estimates from household surveys are typically at less than ten percent. A number of potential explanations for these large differences are provided. Both types of estimates suffer from limits, but observing the two types of estimates alongside one other provides a more balanced view of the market share of FIIs in health care systems as a whole than is the case for any single type of measure.

The historical contribution of faith-based health providers in the Ecuadorian health system: an overview of the evidence

C onfusions and contradictory generalizations about religion and health in Africa are commonplace, especially in the area of reproductive health and sexual behavior. For example, it is often said by some that Catholics are resistant to the use of condoms, and by others that religious affiliation has no significant impact on condom use; some suggest that religious leaders may be a significant barrier to reproductive health interventions, while others argue that they are an important point of entry for such interventions. The literature abounds with such contradictory statements (Olivier 2010), so that it is not always easy to understand what the actual facts are. The purpose of this article is to consider the impact of religious affiliation on reproductive health and sexual behaviors. We rely on Ghana as a case example, but we also make a broader argument about the validity and limits of econometric analysis based on large sample data when considering complex questions. The argument is fairly simple and runs as follows. The information available on faith in large household surveys tends to be limited to the broad faith affiliation of individuals. Broad faith affiliations

Introduction: The Challenge of Transdisciplinarity in Researching Religion and the Public

While there has been a massive surge of interest and grey literature publication on religion and development and religion and health, especially at an international advocacy level, the academic disciplinary processes for such work remains poorly clarified – and largely uncritical. This paper examines the interdisciplinary intersection of religion and public health (using the example of research on HIV/AIDS in Africa), and considers lingering clashes of disciplinary cultures and power that continue to make collaboration in this space a challenge.