The Effects of Health Aid on Heterogeneous Child Health Outcomes: An Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates the effectiveness of health-aid in Nigeria, with focus on child health outcomes. In particular, the study aims to examine whether health aid has yielded significant gains in child health in Nigeria. Methodology/Approach/Design: Secondary data on neonatal, infant and under 5 mortality as well as measles and DPT immunization were used. The stationarity of the variables was ascertained using the augmented Dickey-Fuller and Philip-Perron unit root tests. In order to confirm the presence or otherwise of long-run relationship among the selected variables, Johansen cointegration test was carried out and the obtained coefficients and p-values indicate evidences of long-run relationship. Finally, the study used the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) estimator to examine the effects of aid targeted at children health on the various child health outcomes. Results: The results suggest the existence of long-run relationships between health aid and child health indicators, with aid having reducing impacts on the mortality indicators and a positive correlation with child immunization coverage. Also, public health expenditure, literacy rate and urbanization rate are negatively correlated with measures of children mortality and positively correlated with the measures of immunization coverage. Except for infant mortality, economic growth proxy by GDP growth rate has insignificant effect on child health. Practical Implications: Sustained improvement in children health is the core objective of aids aimed at children’s health, and findings of this research will serve as a framework for health policymakers in understanding the contributions of health aid inflow to specific indicators of child health in Nigeria. Originality/Value: This study makes a number of contributions to the ongoing discussion on the effectiveness of health-specific ODA in Nigeria. Despite the inconclusiveness of the health aid-health outcomes literature, this study has shown that children health aid has led to improvement in children health in Nigeria. While previous studies have focused on child mortality indicators, this study examined the effect on various measures of children health including children immunization coverage.