Blog Examines Preliminary Report on PEPFAR's Pilot Expenditure Analysis Initiative

In this post on the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, CGD's Victoria Fan, Rachel Silverman, and Amanda Glassman examine "the preliminary report [.pdf] on the pilot of PEPFAR's Expenditure Analysis Initiative, an important and exciting move by PEPFAR towards evidence-based decision making and greater transparency." Expenditure analysis (EA) "provides an account of where money gets spent and on what," they continue, adding, "Here's why it could be a game changer: This seemingly simple tool is essential for realizing huge potential gains in both technical and allocative efficiency, two core components of value for money." After describing some of the report's shortcomings, they write that "the report demonstrates the wide range of potential applications for using EA to improve value for money, which is particularly encouraging given PEPFAR's plans to institutionalize EA into its routine annual reporting" (8/1).