5.3 Core indicators
Building on the discussion in Section 1, the core indicators for the availability of funds and the extent of financial
risk protection have been agreed on at various fora.
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Recommended core indicator 1a: Total expenditure on health
This indicator provides information on the overall availability of funds. Sufficiency must be considered as a
second step, in relation to country-specific estimates of the funds needed to ensure access to the desired level of
services, or in terms of comparisons with other countries with similar levels of gross domestic product (GDP)
per head. Some countries also seek to compare their total expenditure on health as a proportion of GDP with
those in other countries. This is included in Table 5.1 as a possible additional indicator.
Definition
• Numerator: The sum of all health expenditures (ideally from NHA and including all sources of
funds — external, government, and non-government including household out-of-pocket payments).
• Denominator: Total population.
Data collection methodology
Data collection is through country-specific reporting by the ministry of finance/ministry of health/other
relevant ministries (for government expenditures), donors (for funding that is not channelled through the