The multi-country comparison of budget methods explores the existence of immunization line items in the budgets of ministries of health in 33 African countries. The study’s objectives included verifying the number and types of budget line items for immunization services, comparing budget execution with budgeted amounts, and comparing values with annual immunization expenditures reported to WHO and UNICEF.
Results vary from country to country, with eight as the median number of immunization line items and challenges ranging from obtaining budget information to discrepancies in data submitted to the UN agencies. Immunization budgets per child in the birth cohort ranged from US$1.37 (Democratic Republic of Congo) to US$67.51 (Central African Republic), with an average of US$10.05. Out of the total Government health budget, immunization comprised between 0.04% (Madagascar) and 5.67% (Benin), with an average of 1.98% across the countries, excluding on-budget donor funds.
Significant differences between budgets and expenditures reported to WHO and UNICEF are likely due to inconsistent interpretations of reporting requirements, diverse approaches to writing donor funds, challenges in extracting the relevant information from public financial management systems, and broader public financial management capacity issues of the MoH staff.
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