The effect of health aid policies on health and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa
Keywords:
health aid, health status, GDP, GMM, sub-Saharan AfricaAbstract
The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of health aid policies on health and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 2002-2018. The methodology adopted is based on generalized method of moments (GMM) in a dynamic panel system. The results after estimations reveal that only aid granted to basic health and reproductive health improves the health status of populations. For a 1% increase of these aids, approximately 6 and 2 lives per 1000 live births can be saved respectively. The results also show that the health capital (infant and child mortality rate) has a negative effect on the level of GDP about 0.003%. It also shows that debt service has a negative impact on GDP about 0.003%. This research therefore recommends that health aid policies in sub-Saharan African countries should be oriented towards pro-poor spending such as basic health and reproductive health, while at the same time reducing debt service to enable poor countries to invest in human capital such as health.
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