Assessing public financing for nutrition in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 2022

Christopher T Andersen, and Jewelwayne S Cain, and Deepika N Chaudhery, and Mamata Ghimire, and Hideki Higashi, and Ajay Tandon
The World Bank, Health, Nutrition, and Population Global Practice, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.

The objective of this study was to assess public financing for nutrition in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka to identify limitations of available data and to discuss policy implications. A variant of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement methodology was used. Budget allocations and expenditures for relevant government ministries during 2012-2018 were identified. Nutrition-related line items were tagged using definitions of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. Data were aggregated by year and calculated in constant United States dollars (USD). Expenditures by year were presented as a proportion of gross domestic product and general government expenditures. The percent utilization of budget allocations and proportion of funding from central government sources were determined. Per capita expenditures on nutrition-specific interventions varied from USD 1.08-8.76 and for nutrition-sensitive interventions varied from USD 20.22-51.20. Nutrition-specific expenditures as a percent of gross domestic product ranged from 0.08% in Sri Lanka in 2017% to 0.34% in Nepal in 2016. The median utilization rate was 64% for nutrition-specific and 84% for nutrition-sensitive interventions. Nutrition-specific funding financed by the central government was 90.7% in Bhutan and 99.4% in Sri Lanka. This study revealed the need to prioritize and invest in evidence-based interventions, including balancing investments in nutrition-specific versus -sensitive interventions. Challenges in estimation of nutrition expenditures and cross-country comparison were also observed, highlighting the need for appropriate nutrition line item tagging and standardized systems for data collection.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009390 Nepal Country located in southern Asia, between China and India. The capital is Kathmandu. Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
D009752 Nutritional Status State of the body in relation to the consumption and utilization of nutrients. Nutrition Status,Status, Nutrition,Status, Nutritional
D005380 Financing, Government Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance. Federal Aid,Financing, Public,Grants and Subsidies, Government,Hill-Burton Act,Subsidies, Government,Government Financing,Act, Hill-Burton,Aid, Federal,Aids, Federal,Federal Aids,Government Subsidies,Government Subsidy,Hill Burton Act,Public Financing,Subsidy, Government
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001631 Bhutan A kingdom in the eastern Himalayas on the northeast border of India, bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Assam, on the south by Assam and West Bengal, and on the west by Sikkim and Tibet. From 1720 to 1970 it was under Chinese or Indian domination. In 1971 it became a member of the United Nations. The name comes from the Sanskrit bhota, the name for Tibet, + anta, end, with reference to its location at the southern extremity of Tibet. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p144 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p64)
D013188 Sri Lanka Country in southern Asia, an island in the Indian Ocean, south of India. The capital is Colombo. Ceylon

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