Has quality of governance affected the effectiveness of health expenditure on adult health in SubSaharan Africa?

Abstract

Compared to the rest of the world Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still has a challenge in reducing its adult mortality. Investments in adult health is a prerogative of SSA governments as they provide the source of labour force, human capital endowment and consumption which are benchmarks of economic growth. Though health expenditure has risen in SSA, quality of governance especially level of corruption is not impressive. The corruption levels are of concern because they may have a negative impact on effectiveness of health expenditure in reducing premature adult mortality in SSA. This study examines interaction of health expenditure and corruption and its effect on adult mortality. Regional differences in the relationship between health expenditure, corruption and adult mortality are also determined across the four regions of SSA: Western, Southern, Central and Eastern Africa. This study has used dynamic panel data model to investigate effectiveness of health expenditure on adult mortality under the influence of corruption. The results indicate that corruption influence positively the effectiveness of public health expenditure while that of private health expenditure is negative. Regional variation exists in the effectiveness of both public and private health expenditure on adult mortality.