VIABLE HEALTH FUNDING IN TIME OF DEMOGRAPHIC AGEING

In the past several decades a new challenge has arisen, and it refers to the rapid demographic ageing of the population in developed and developing countries, quite opposite to the previous understanding of overpopulated planet. Increase in the older population brings its implications to different segments of the society, and the national health system and its funding is one of them. This paper tends to analyze if there is a relationship between the government health expenditure and the increase in the older population in fourteen countries from the European Union that are experiencing most intense process of demographic ageing. Also, other possible determinants of the health expenditures are included, such as government social spending, gross domestic product per capita and dummy variable to estimate the effect of the global recession onto the health expenditure.

Urbanization and Health Conditions in Nigeria: Dealing with the Urban Health Challenges

Health concerns arising from urbanization requires serious commitment to revamp the Nigerian health sector. In that regards, this study sought to investigate the influence of urbanization and health expenditure on life expectancy and mortality rates in Nigeria from 1981 to 2020. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) technique was used to ascertain the influence of urbanization and government health expenditure on life expectancy and mortality rates in Nigeria. From the result of FMOLS, it was observed that urbanization exerts a positive and significant effect on life expectancy; but exerts a negative and significant effect on mortality rates. Moreover, government health expenditure generated a negative and significant effect on life expectancy, but a positive and significant effect on adult mortality. As such, the 15% recommended by the World Health Organization should be given a top priority in order to alleviate the country out of the menace of health tourism that has bedevilled the country over the years.

How West African countries prioritize health

Background The goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is to ensure that everyone is able to obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship. UHC remains a mirage if government health expenditure is not improved. Health priority refers to general government health expenditure as a percentage of general government expenditure. It indicates the priority of the government to spend on healthcare from its domestic public resources. Our study aimed to assess health priorities in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using the health priority index from the WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database. Method We extracted and analysed data on health priority in the WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database across the 15 members of the ECOWAS (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo) from 2010 to 2018 to assess how these countries prioritize health. The data are presented using descriptive statistics. Results Our findings revealed that no West African country beats the cutoff of a minimum of 15% health priority index. Ghana (8.43%), Carbo Verde (8.29%), and Burkina Faso (7.60%) were the top three countries with the highest average health priority index, while Guinea (3.05%), Liberia (3.46%), and Guinea-Bissau (3.56%) had the lowest average health priority in the West African region within the period of our analysis (2010 to 2018). Conclusion Our study reiterates the need for West African governments and other relevant stakeholders to prioritize health in their political agenda towards achieving UHC.

Investigation the determinants of pharmaceutical expenditure share of GDP in Iran and selected OECD countries

Aim This study estimated the GDP share of pharmaceuticals in Iran based on the drivers of pharmaceutical expenditure and compared it with that of 31 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Subject and methods The factors contributing to pharmaceutical expenditure were identified through literature review and studied by 8 experts to classify the factors. Then, using the panel data method, a model was built to estimate the GDP share of pharmaceutical expenditure based on the extracted factors of the selected countries in Iran’s model. To explain the observed differences, several regression analyses were performed based on cross-sectional data. The analyses were performed using EVIEWS software, version 10. Results The explanatory variables for the selected countries in the panel model (R2 = 0.98) were specified. Government health expenditure (β = 0.1432), the share of generic drugs (β = − 0.0143), gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (β = − 0.0058) and the rate of disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) (β = 0.0028) contributed most to pharmaceutical expenditure. In comparison, in the Iranian estimation model (R2 = 0.84), government health expenditure (β = 0.0536) and the share of generic drugs (β = 0.0369) had a significant impact on pharmaceutical expenditure. In the estimation model with more estimators for Iran (R2 = 0.99), government health expenditure (β = 0.1694), disease prevalence (β = 0.0537), the share of generic drugs (β = 0.0102), the DALY rate (β = 0.0039), GDP per capita (β = − 0.0033), and the drug price index (β = 0.0007) contribute most to pharmaceutical expenditure. Conclusion In the models of the study, factors related to the structure of the healthcare system and the pharmaceutical system contributed most to pharmaceutical expenditure as a share of GDP. Moreover, disease profiles show its predictive role in the second model for Iran.

The Role of Institutional Quality in Health Expenditure-Labour Force Participation Nexus in Africa

The study investigated the role of institutional quality in the relationship between health expenditure and labour force participation (LFP) in Africa, taking into consideration two forms of health expenditures (government health expenditure (GHE) and out-of-pocket health expenditure (OOPHE)) and gender labour force participation dichotomy. We employed data of 39 African countries for the period between 2000 and 2018 using Panel Fixed Effects with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors and two-stage System Generalised Method of Moments (GMM). The results revealed that government health expenditure yields an increasing effect on total, female, and male LFP. OOPHE, in most cases, leads to a decline in LFP. The institutional quality was found to be detrimental to LFP. The magnitude of the positive effect of government health expenditure on LFP is reduced by the interaction of institutional quality with government expenditure. In conclusion, we advocate for the improvement in institutional apparatuses across African countries. JEI CODE: E62; H51; J21; O43

Politics, government health expenditure and infant mortality: does political party orientation matter?

PurposeMotivated by the scant available evidence, this paper explores the relationship between government political party orientation and infant mortality.Design/methodology/approachA panel quantile methodology is applied to a data set that consists of 15 countries of the G20 group over the period 2000–2018. The authors control for heterogeneous parameters across countries and quantiles and obtain estimates across the different points of the conditional distribution of the dependent variable.FindingsThe findings support the hypothesis that political party orientation has a significant effect on a population health indicator such as infant mortality. The analysis suggests that, to a great extent, left-wing government parties contribute to better health outcomes – when compared to right and centre political parties – both individually as well as interacted with government health expenditure. Moreover, the impact of redistributing policies appears to be of a paramount importance in alleviating infant mortality, while more education and lower unemployment can also contribute to better health outcomes.Originality/valueThe authors explore the relationship between the nature of government political party orientation (i.e. right, centre and left) and infant mortality whilst at the same time gauging the mediating effect of party orientation via government health expenditure on infant mortality. Additional aspects of the impact of other control variables, such as income inequality, unemployment and education on infant mortality are also investigated.

Patterns of African Healthcare Funding: Investment Implications for Public-Private Partnerships

The Coronavirus Global Pandemic Now Poses Additional Peril To The Already Burdened Healthcare Systems With Inadequate Funding In Africa. This Paper Attempts To Present The Funding Patterns For Healthcare In Nigeria, Congo, Tanzania, Egypt, And South Africa. It Also Explored Investor Opportunities For Lowering OOPs And Increasing Investor Profits. Data Were Drawn From The WHO, The World Bank, And World Charts Databases. Government Health Expenditure Was Far Below What Individuals And Families Pay From Out-Of-Pocket Payments (OOPs) For Healthcare Services Except In South Africa, Where OOP Accounts For Only 8%. Contrary To Popular Notion, Donation Funds Or Foreign Aid For Healthcare Accounts For A Lower Percentage Of Total Healthcare Expenditure In The Countries Under Consideration. Households Mostly Bore The Healthcare Expenditure Burden (Nigeria’s OOPs Of 77%, Congo- 48%, And Egypt- 60%). Averagely, Nigeria And Congo Only Spent About 3% Of Their National Budget On Healthcare. In Comparison, Tanzania And Egypt Spent An Average Of 4% And 5% (South Africa-8%) Between 2010 And 2017, Reflecting Low-Risk Protection For Households. Specific Aspects For Investments Through Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Reviewed In This Paper Should Include Designing Innovative Financing Models Focusing On Risk Pooling Mechanisms To Help Bridge The Funding Gap, Local Production, And Manufacture Of Pharmaceuticals And Healthcare Equipment At This Time, Instead Of Importation. Investors Can, Therefore, Take Advantage Of The Various Initiatives Outlined In This Paper To Achieve Better Health Outcomes In Africa.

Does Government Spending in Health, Education, and Military Improve Welfare in Asian Developing Countries?

The study of government expenditure is essential for economists and policymakers. This study aims to analyze the impact of various government spending, mainly on education, health, and military, on the effect of welfare on Asian Countries. This study was conducted in 20 Asian countries constructed on panel data from 2013–2017 and is analyzed using the fixed effect general least square (FEGLS) method. The results show that, government spending in health, military, and education had a positive and significant effect on Asian Countries' welfare. This research concludes that, the government health expenditure had the highest impact on welfare, followed by education and military spending.

Political institutions and health expenditure

We examine how political institutions influence health expenditure by using a panel of 151 developing and developed countries for the years 2000 to 2015 and four measures of democracy. Our pooled OLS analysis shows that democracies have 20–30% higher government health expenditure relative to GDP than their autocratic counterparts. An instrumental variable approach which exploits the regional diffusion of democracy confirms the positive effect of democracy on government health expenditure. Panel fixed effects and event study models also suggest a positive within-country effect of democratization on government health expenditure within a short period after regime transition. Democratic rule, however, does not turn out to significantly influence private health expenditure compared to autocracies. We conclude that democracies may care more for their citizens and strive to decrease inequalities in the access to health care.