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Distribution of the benefits from public health expenditures in Ghana

Author

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  • Micheal Kofi Boachie

    (Annamalai University)

  • K. Ramu

    (Annamalai University)

Abstract

Government intervention in the healthcare market is, partly, justified on grounds of equity and redistribution. The intervention usually comes in the form of expenditures—direct provision of care and subsidies—in many developing countries. Given the expected redistributive impact of public health expenditures, the aim of this paper was to establish the beneficiaries of public health spending in Ghana using utilisation data for outpatient care. We applied utilisation incidence analysis on outpatient healthcare utilisation data from the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health, Ghana Wave 1 to conduct the analysis. The results show that ill-health was high in the rural areas, particularly among low income groups. While utilisation of public healthcare facilities for outpatient care was generally high, there was some disparities in utilisation. That is, utilisation of public health services, especially hospital care, was unfairly distributed among various income/wealth groups. Implications of these findings are that policymakers should continue to devise means to ensure equitable and even distribution of healthcare services, particularly hospital care, so that the poor and other vulnerable groups, whose plight call for government intervention, benefit.

Suggested Citation

  • Micheal Kofi Boachie & K. Ramu, 2018. "Distribution of the benefits from public health expenditures in Ghana," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 415-430, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0475-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-017-0475-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Micheal Kofi Boachie & K. Ramu & Tatjana Põlajeva, 2018. "Public Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes: New Evidence from Ghana," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, October.
    2. Micheal Kofi Boachie & Tatjana Põlajeva & Albert Opoku Frimpong, 2020. "Infant Mortality in Low- and Middle-income Countries: Does Government Health Spending Matter?," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 5(1), pages 54-73, January.
    3. Mihaela Onofrei & Anca-Florentina Vatamanu & Georgeta Vintilă & Elena Cigu, 2021. "Government Health Expenditure and Public Health Outcomes: A Comparative Study among EU Developing Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-13, October.
    4. Ayoade Olabisi Simeon & Monica Alagbile Orisadare & Adeyemi Taiwo George & Adediwura Micheal Olamide, 2021. "An Assessment of Public Health Expenditure, Health Outcome and Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980 -2019)," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(1), pages 508-514, January.

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