IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/aphecp/v18y2020i6d10.1007_s40258-019-00508-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Assessment of Domestic Financing for Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Potential Gains and Fiscal Space

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Atim

    (African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA))

  • Eric Arthur

    (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology)

  • Daniel Malik Achala

    (African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA))

  • Jacob Novignon

    (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Background Reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health (RMNCH) remains an important public health objective. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), inadequate financial commitment continues to pose a major challenge to improving RMNCH outcomes. Understanding financing gains and potential fiscal space for RMNCH can therefore not be overemphasized. Objective This study sought to analyse the potential gains from increased domestic financing as a source for improving RMNCH outcomes in SSA. We also assessed, in addition to the potential gains, the potential fiscal space available for financing RMNCH in SSA. Methods Our study used panel econometric techniques to estimate gains from increased health financing in terms of RMNCH. We also reviewed tax system performance as well as debt sustainability to identify fiscal space potentials across countries. Results We found significant gains from both domestic and external financing. The estimated elasticities suggest that the gains from domestic public financing were much stronger. The fiscal space options identified include tax revenue performance improvements, improved public financial management, and borrowing, at least in the short to medium term. The results show that fiscal space from improved tax systems ranged from US$34.6 per capita in Uganda to US$310.6 per capita in Nigeria. Conclusion This result reinforces calls for increased domestic financing for health through innovations in domestic resource mobilization. Improving the performance of tax systems will be a step in the right direction, with possible long-term gains to the health sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Atim & Eric Arthur & Daniel Malik Achala & Jacob Novignon, 2020. "An Assessment of Domestic Financing for Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Potential Gains and Fiscal Space," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 789-799, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:18:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s40258-019-00508-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s40258-019-00508-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40258-019-00508-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40258-019-00508-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacob Novignon & Solomon Olakojo & Justice Nonvignon, 2012. "The effects of public and private health care expenditure on health status in sub-Saharan Africa: new evidence from panel data analysis," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. United Nations UN, 2015. "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015," Working Papers id:7097, eSocialSciences.
    3. Ensor, Tim & Ronoh, Jeptepkeny, 2005. "Effective financing of maternal health services: A review of the literature," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 49-58, December.
    4. Jowett, Matthew, 2000. "Safe motherhood interventions in low-income countries: an economic justification and evidence of cost effectiveness," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 201-228, October.
    5. United Nations UN, 2015. "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015," Working Papers id:7222, eSocialSciences.
    6. Peter Okwero & Ajay Tandon & Susan Sparkes & Julie McLaughlin & Johannes G. Hoogeveen, 2010. "Fiscal Space for Health in Uganda," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5949.
    7. Mr. Peter S. Heller, 2005. "Understanding Fiscal Space," IMF Policy Discussion Papers 2005/004, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Debasri Mukherjee & Elsy Thomas Kizhakethalackal, 2013. "Empirics of health-aid, education and infant mortality: a semiparametric study," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(22), pages 3137-3150, August.
    9. World Bank, 2017. "World Development Indicators 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 26447.
    10. Mishra, Prachi & Newhouse, David, 2009. "Does health aid matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 855-872, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Chris Sampson’s journal round-up for 28th December 2020
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2020-12-28 12:00:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mouhamed Samba & Ibrahima Thiam & Elisabeth Paul, 2024. "Which socio-economic groups benefit most from public health expenditure in Senegal? A dynamic benefit incidence analysis," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/378404, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tonny Odokonyero & Robert Marty & Tony Muhumuza & Alex T. Ijjo & Godfrey Owot Moses, 2018. "The impact of aid on health outcomes in Uganda," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 733-745, April.
    2. M. Niaz Asadullah & Antonio Savoia & Kunal Sen, 2020. "Will South Asia Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030? Learning from the MDGs Experience," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 165-189, November.
    3. Joseph Kihika Kamara & Moses Galukande & Florence Maeda & Sam Luboga & Andre M. N. Renzaho, 2017. "Understanding the Challenges of Improving Sanitation and Hygiene Outcomes in a Community Based Intervention: A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Biggeri, Mario & Clark, David A. & Ferrannini, Andrea & Mauro, Vincenzo, 2019. "Tracking the SDGs in an ‘integrated’ manner: A proposal for a new index to capture synergies and trade-offs between and within goals," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 628-647.
    5. Cuicui Xiao & Jingbo Zhou & Xingxing Shen & Jonathan Cullen & Susie Dobson & Fanran Meng & Xiaoxia Wang, 2022. "Rural Living Environment Governance: A Survey and Comparison between Two Villages in Henan Province of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, October.
    6. Akoyi, K.T. & Mitiku, F. & Maertens, M., 2018. "Is prohibiting child labour enough? Coffee certification and child schooling in Ethiopia and Uganda," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275958, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Deepak Kumar Behera & Umakant Dash, 2020. "Is health expenditure effective for achieving healthcare goals? Empirical evidence from South-East Asia Region," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 593-618, June.
    8. Mario La Torre & Helen Chiappini (ed.), 2020. "Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Finance," Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-3-030-40248-8, January.
    9. Caroline Jennings Saul & Heiko Gebauer, 2018. "Digital Transformation as an Enabler for Advanced Services in the Sanitation Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    10. Bruno F. Sunguya & Yue Ge & Linda B. Mlunde & Rose Mpembeni & Germana H. Leyna & Krishna C. Poudel & Niyati Parekh & Jiayan Huang, 2022. "Targeted and Population-Wide Interventions Are Needed to Address the Persistent Burden of Anemia among Women of Reproductive Age in Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-12, July.
    11. Valensisi, Giovanni & Gauci, Adrian, 2013. "Graduated without passing? The employment dimension and LDCs' prospects under the Istanbul Programme of Action," MPRA Paper 86966, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Gauri Kartini Shastry & Daniel L Tortorice, 2021. "Effective Foreign Aid: Evidence from Gavi’s Vaccine Program," Working Papers 2102, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    13. Lisa F. Clark, 2018. "Policy conflicts in global food assistance strategies: balancing local procurement and harmonization," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 211-222, February.
    14. Jussi T. S. Heikkila, 2020. "Classifying economics for the common good: Connecting sustainable development goals to JEL codes," Papers 2004.04384, arXiv.org.
    15. Menon Martina & Perali Federico & Veronesi Marcella, 2017. "“Leaving No Child Behind:” Preferences for Social Inclusion and Altruism," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-19, July.
    16. Shannon L. Sibbald & Nicole Haggerty, 2019. "Integrating Business and Medical Pedagogy to Accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 13(1), pages 92-101, March.
    17. Santangelo, Grazia D., 2018. "The impact of FDI in land in agriculture in developing countries on host country food security," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 75-84.
    18. Rachel Mason-Jones & Paul G. Davies & Andrew Thomas, 2022. "Applying the Theory of Constraints to Explore the UK Renewable-Energy Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-18, October.
    19. José Antonio Rodriguez Martin & Juan Dios Jiménez Aguilera & José María Martín Martín & José Antonio Salinas Fernández, 2018. "Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Measurement of Progress Towards Millennium Development Goals," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 499-514, January.
    20. Donatella Saccone, 2021. "Can the Covid19 pandemic affect the achievement of the ‘Zero Hunger’ goal? Some preliminary reflections," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(7), pages 1025-1038, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:18:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s40258-019-00508-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.