Catastrophic Effects of COVID-19 Health Expenditure Shocks and Multidimensional Poverty in Ghana: What Financing Mechanisms Mattered?

In Ghana, both direct and in-direct effects of the pandemic on health and health outcomes became prolonged during the second and third waves of the pandemic. Despite seemingly obvious disruption this brought to the health system and health care utilisation, there is paucity of published literature on the effects to household health expenditures among diverse socio economic groups, including the poor. No known study has examined the magnitude and extent to which these possible payments, if they existed impacted the vulnerable, particularly poor households. Also, several key questions remain answered in the literature. To what extent has COVID-19 impacted on out-of-pocket (OOP) payments as a share of total household expenditures during the pandemic? What are the determinants of COVID-19-related CHEs? How did CHE shocks impact multi-dimensionally poor households and how did they mitigate such shocks? This policy brief answers these questions and examines the policy implications of financing mechanisms and their impact during health emergencies.