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. 2021 Feb 4:8:624962.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.624962. eCollection 2020.

Impact of Healthcare Expenditures on Healthcare Outcomes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: A Cross-Country Comparison, 1995-2015

Bander Balkhi  1 , Dhfer Alshayban  2 , Nawaf M Alotaibi  3
Affiliations

Impact of Healthcare Expenditures on Healthcare Outcomes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: A Cross-Country Comparison, 1995-2015

Bander Balkhi et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

The association between healthcare expenditures and outcomes, mainly mortality and life expectancy, is complex. The real explanation for this association is not clear, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This study assesses the impact of health expenditures on improving healthcare systems and health status and finds a relationship between health expenditures and health outcomes across different region. Annual time series data on healthcare spending and outcomes from 1995 to 2015 were used for MENA region in comparison to developed and developing countries. Health expenditure was adjusted by the consumer price index equation to the 2015 US dollar eliminate the impact of inflation on our results. For many countries, spending on healthcare continues to rise, Among MENA countries, we found that the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait spent more per capita on health, $1,711 and $1,420, respectively, than any other countries in the region. Although this study demonstrated a relationship between total healthcare expenditure and outcomes, some countries spend more on healthcare but have shorter life expectancy. In most countries, efficient and effective utilization of healthcare resources is the key strategy for improving health outcomes in any country. The lack of a positive correlation between healthcare spending and life expectancy may indicate that health resources are not allocated effectively. In those cases, increasing health spending does not guarantee that there is any kind of improvement in healthcare.

Keywords: Middle East-North Africa; cross-nation comparison; healthcare expenditures trend; healthcare resources; life expectancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationship between health expenditure and life expectancy. SAU, Saudi Arabia; OMN, Oman; UAE, United Arab Emirates; KWT, Kuwait; LBN, Lebanon; JPR, Jordan; IRQ, Iraq; QAT, Qatar; SYR, Syrian; BHR, Bahrain; YEM, Yemen; EGY, Egypt; LBY, Libya; DZA, Algeria; TUN, Tunisia; MAR, Morocco.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship between life expectancy and health exenditures for a period of 1995–2015 in MENA Countries.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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