Health Expenditure and Child Health Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose: The Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries have exerted efforts towards reducing mortality among children by raising the level of health expenditure in recent years. In spite of this, the health status of children in SSA only recorded marginal improvement. This questioned the efficiency of health care spending in improving child health outcomes. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the effect of health expenditure on child health outcomes in SSA. Design/methodology/approach: The study is anchored on the Grossman (1972) human capital theory. Data were obtained from World Bank database. The data covered 44 countries across the SSA region. Two measures of child health outcomes; infant mortality rate and child mortality rate were used. A fixed effect model was estimated to investigate the effect of health expenditure on child health outcomes. Estimates were validated at p≤0.05. Findings: Total health expenditure had a significant negative effect on infant (t=-29.25) and child mortality (t=-30.13), respectively. Total health spending decreased infant mortality by 22.37%, while it reduced child under-5 mortality by -43.39%. Practical implications: Although the study did not examine the effect of disaggregated health expenditures on child health outcomes, total health expenditure is an important factor in reducing infant mortality rate and child mortality rate in SSA. Originality/value/contribution: The examination of the relationship between aggregate of two measures of child health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa, is unique.