Abstract
Nigeria with an estimated $350 per capital annually still ranks near the bottom 158 out of 177 countries in the UN Human Capital Development Index in terms of per capita income, with more than half of the population living in poverty. Over the past decade U5MR is estimated to be 201 deaths/1000 lives births, the high rates of child mortality especially the 0-5 years shows the total breakdown of social and economic well-being of the country. This paper examined child health care demand in Nigeria using the Nested Multinomial Logit Model estimation technique. The study used parents’ education as a proxy for child education, while the decision to make a choice of the health facilities was also assumed to be that of the House-Hold head. The study found out that female child has a higher probability of seeking health care facility ahead of their male counterpart. Also, the household head educational level was found to be a determinant of health care seeking behavior of the child. Empirical evidence also revealed that that the probability of seeking healthcare increases with household size and that demand for child health care in Nigeria is non linear in nature. Based on this, the paper recommends the need to show greater commitment to child health care and that government should reduce the problems militating against effective performance of the health sector such as, inefficiency, wasteful use of resources, low quality of service and poor enabling environment.
Highlights
Health is a fundamental dimension of well-being and a key component of human capital
Over the past decade under 5 mortality rate (U5MR) is estimated to be 201 deaths/1000 lives births,the high rates of child mortality especially the 0-5 years shows the total breakdown of social and economic well-being of the country .This paper examined child health care demand in Nigeria using the Nested Multinomial Logit Model estimation technique.The study used parents’ education as a proxy for child education,while the decision to make a choice of the health facilities was assumed to be that of the House-Hold head
Empirical evidence revealed that that the probability of seeking healthcare increases with household size and that demand for child health care in Nigeria is non linear in nature.Based on this, the paper recommends the need to show greater commitment to child health care and that government should reduce the problems militating against effective performance of the health sector such as, inefficiency, wasteful use of resources, low quality of service and poor enabling environment
Summary
Health is a fundamental dimension of well-being and a key component of human capital. Nigeria is blessed with both human and natural resources, despite this; it is ranked among the 13 poorest countries in the world.The World Bank (2001) reports that majority of Nigerians earns below US $1 a day and this shows high level of poverty in the country This extreme poverty serves as a limiting factor to access quality health care especially among the vulnerable group (Children) (World Bank, 1999, UNICEF, 1999). The importance of supply side solutions needs not be relegated to the background,it needs be pointed out that they are not enough in addressing access to health care by patients, especially children in low income countries like Nigeria.It is necessary for policy makers to consider other interventions beyond the supply and reflect on how individuals behave during and the magnitude of the factors affecting their health seeking behavior, especially the children who are socially vulnerable.
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