PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN NIGERIA 1986-2016. A RESEARCH PROJECT MATERIAL ON PHARMACY
Abstract
Conventional wisdom holds that health is central to human general well-being, as well as a prerequisite for increased productivity, and overall economic growth and development of an economy. This explains why governments across the globe are making enormous efforts to achieve good health for all and Nigeria is no exception. Regrettably, despite government’s efforts to improve the health situation of the citizens through massive health care expenditure, the Nigerian health outcomes (such as life expectancy and mortality rate) are still considered one of the poorest and most miserable in the world. Thus, the study follows a causality approach to examining the relationship among government health expenditure, health outcomes, and economic growth in Nigeria during the period 1986 – 2016.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The reform of health delivery system is one of the essential elements of overall development of a country. Most common policy response to the demand for improved healthcare is to increase the public health expenditure. However, taking into account the complexity of the determinants of health outcomes, it can be naïve to presume a direct positive relation between public health expenditure and health outcome. The Governments in developed countries with better health indicators have large growing public health expenditures; nevertheless the role of public expenditure in health care provision has been constantly debated. Conventional wisdom holds that health is central to human general well-being, as well as a prerequisite for increased productivity, and overall economic growth and development of an economy. Health is also a driving force upon which other human capitals such as education, skills, etc, rely on. Oni (2014) posits that healthy workers lose less time from work and are more productive when working. According to (WHO, 2005), good health has the consequence of widespread economic growth, and an escape of ill – health traps in poverty. As pointed out by Barro (1996), health is a capital productive asset and an engine of growth. Therefore, it is rather instructive to appreciate how dramatic the improvements in World’s Health have been over the past decades. In 1950, some 280 out of every 1000 children in developing countries died before their fifth birthday. By the year 2000, the number had reduced to 126 per 1000 in low-income countries, 39 per 1000 in middle-income countries, and 6 per 1000 in high-income countries (Todaro and Smith, 2006).