Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec 11;2(1):22.
doi: 10.1186/2191-1991-2-22.

The effects of public and private health care expenditure on health status in sub-Saharan Africa: new evidence from panel data analysis

Jacob Novignon  1 , Solomon A Olakojo, Justice Nonvignon
Affiliations

The effects of public and private health care expenditure on health status in sub-Saharan Africa: new evidence from panel data analysis

Jacob Novignon et al. Health Econ Rev. .

Abstract

Background: Health care expenditure has been low over the years in developing regions of the world. A majority of countries in these regions, especially sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), rely on donor grants and loans to finance health care. Such expenditures are not only unsustainable but also inadequate considering the enormous health care burden in the region. The objectives of this study are to determine the effect of health care expenditure on population health status and to examine the effect by public and private expenditure sources.

Methods: The study used panel data from 1995 to 2010 covering 44 countries in SSA. Fixed and random effects panel data regression models were fitted to determine the effects of health care expenditure on health outcomes.

Results: The results show that health care expenditure significantly influences health status through improving life expectancy at birth, reducing death and infant mortality rates. Both public and private health care spending showed strong positive association with health status even though public health care spending had relatively higher impact.

Conclusion: The findings imply that health care expenditure remains a crucial component of health status improvement in sub-Saharan African countries. Increasing health care expenditure will be a significant step in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Further, policy makers need to establish effective public-private partnership in allocating health care expenditures.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Romer D. Advanced Macroeconomics. 3. New York: McGraw Hill; 1996.
    1. Grossman M. The demand for health: A theoretical and empirical investigation. New York: Columbia University Press; 1972.
    1. Somi MF, Butler JRG, Vahid F, Njau JD, Abdulla S. Household response to health risks shocks: A study from Tanzania raise some methodological issues. Journal of International Development. 2009;21:200–211. doi: 10.1002/jid.1555. - DOI
    1. Novignon J, Nonvignon J, Mussa R, Chiwaula L. Health and vulnerability to poverty in Ghana: evidence from the Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 5. Health Economics Review. 2012;2 http://www.healtheconomicsreview.com/content/2/1/11 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anyanwu CJ, Erhijakpor EOA. Health expenditures and health outcomes in Africa. African Development Bank Economic Research Working Paper No 91. 2007. http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Knowledge/25144332-...