Does internet use and adoption matter for better health outcomes in sub-Saharan African countries? New evidence from panel quantile regression

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between internet use and health outcomes (i.e. infant mortality, under-five mortality, life expectancy) using generalized quantile regression approach. We used annual unbalanced panel data for 48 sub-Saharan Africa countries from 2000 to 2020. The findings show that internet use has a positive and statistically significant impact on improving health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa to almost all quantiles (10th to 90th). This implies that internet use among individuals increases longevity (i.e. life expectancy) and lowers both infant and under-five mortality from 2000 to 2020. The findings still holds the same after checking robustness analysis. Moreover, the findings reveal the heterogeneous effect of income, health spending, carbon dioxide emissions and trade on health outcomes across different quantiles. These imply that at a certain quantile there are a diminishing returns or increases of health outcomes. Overall, the findings support the idea that increasing internet use and penetration will likely contribute to improving longevity (i.e. life expectancy) and lowering infant and under-five mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The mechanism of internet use and adoption in influencing health outcomes is also discussed. We suggest sub-Saharan Africa countries to give priority to internet use and adoption strategies, policies or laws that ensure the availability of digital tools (such as smartphones and computers) for online searching and use of health-related information.