Health Expenditure and Child Health Outcome in West Africa

Abstract

The study examines the long run relationship between public health expenditure and under-five mortality rate in 15 West African countries over the period of 1991-2015 with the use of panel fully modified least square (FMOLS). The empirical analysis is made up of both aggregate and disaggregated model. Based on the findings, long run relationship between per capita health expenditure and under-five mortality rate is confirmed. Further evidence indicates that public health expenditure has a significant impact on the rate of under-five mortality. Thus, it is revealed that an increase in health expenditure among West African countries would lead to a drastic reduction in infant mortality rate in the region. Furthermore, it is asserted that institutional quality, female literacy rate and immunization are central for reducing under-five mortality rate in the region. Hence, it is suggested that the quality of institutions, female literacy rate and immunizations which are often neglected in the literature should be accorded considerable priority in policy formulations. Also, governments of West African countries should increase the rate of health expenditure in their respective countries. Funding: This study received no specific financial support Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Acknowledgement: Both authors are very grateful for the comments of anonymous referees, which have significantly enhanced the quality of the paper. We specially thank the editorial team of the journal for their exceptional support and guide. The usual disclaimer applies and views are solely expressed by the authors.

The Impact of Public, Private, and Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditures on Under-Five Mortality in Malaysia

“…The GDP per-capita was found to be positively significant, which indicates that a 1% increase in GDP per-capita leads to about a 2.5% increase in the under-five mortality rate in Malaysia. Almost all the relevant literature reviewed in this study reported either a negative relationship [ 18 , 25 ] or no significance [ 8 , 9 , 11 , 13 ]. Except for Kulkarni [ 15 ], whereby a positive, significant relationship was revealed between GDP per-capita and infant mortality rate in an analysis among BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).…”

“…Based on recent studies [ 8 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 25 ], the health capital model, as in Equation (1) is respecified by including the health expenditure ( and other control variables ( ), as follows: …”

“…The control variables, namely, , and are included in the model to avoid the problem of functional specification error in the model as well as to further contribute to knowledge by including relevant variables [ 12 ]. Generally, [ 11 , 23 ] and [ 8 , 16 ] are expected to improve child health, while [ 19 , 20 , 21 ] worsens.…”

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The role of governance in the health expenditure–health outcomes nexus: insights from West Africa

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