Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Kenya
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Date
2020Author
Manda, Damiano K
Mugo, Mercy G
Murunga, James
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Health inputs are critical in attaining a healthy nation and improving
health outcomes. Kenya, like other developing countries, grapples with limited
health expenditures and poor population health indicators. Specifically, Kenya
is yet to achieve the allocation of least 15% of the government’s annual budget
to improve the health sector as enshrined in the Abuja Declaration. Though
there is an improvement with regards to infant mortality rate decreasing from
96.6 per 1, 000 live birth in 1970 to 30.6 per 1, 000 live birth in 2018. This
indicator of population health outcome is currently far below the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) target of reducing the under five mortality rate to
as low as 12 deaths per 1,000 live births by 2030. The literature suggests that
increase in government’s budgetary allocation to the health sector can improve
country’s health outcomes. Evidence on the impact of health expenditures on
health outcomes is mixed and limited in developing countries. This study aims
to analyze the impact of public health expenditures on health outcomes, among
other control variables in Kenya. The study uses time series data from 1970 to
2018. The variables are found to be integrated of different orders suggesting
the choice of Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model. ARDL provides
a useful link between long run equilibrium relationships and short run
disequilibrium dynamics is estimated. The ARDL bounds test suggests
presence of cointegration thus leading to the estimation of Error Correction
Model (ECM). The findings suggest that improvements in public health
expenditures enhance health outcomes in Kenya. The control variables that are
found to be important determinants of infant mortality rate in Kenya include
the national income and number of hospital beds per 100, 000. The study
recommends that Kenyan government should increase annual budgetary
allocation to health sector. Such increase is likely to lead to investments in
physical and human capital in the health sector thus translating to improved
health outcomes in Kenya.
Citation
Manda, Damiano Kulundu, Mercy G. Mugo, and James Murunga. "Health Expenditures and Health Outcomes in Kenya." (2020).Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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