Abstract
The productivity of countries around the globe is adversely affected by the health-related problems of their labour force. This study examined the effect of the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and life expectancy on the economic growth of 33 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over a period of 11 years (2002–2012). The study employed a dynamic panel approach as opposed to the static traditional approach utilised in the literature. The dynamic approach became eminent because of the fact that HIV/AIDS is a dynamic variable as its prevalence today depends on the previous years. The result revealed that HIV/AIDS is negatively correlated with economic growth in the region, with a coefficient of 0.014, and significant at the 1% level. That is, a 10% increase in HIV/AIDS prevalence leads to a 0.14% decrease in the GDP of the region. Tackling HIV/AIDS is therefore imperative to the developing Sub-Saharan African region and all hands must be on deck to end the menace globally.
Highlights
The productivity of many countries around the globe is adversely affected by the health-related problems of their labour force; these include the prevalence of communicable diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS
Regarding the other independent variables, gross capital formation is positively related to growth and significant at the 10% level, which is consistent with economic theory; labour force productivity is negatively correlated with growth and significant at the 10% level; and capital flight has a negative but insignificant coefficient
This paper focused on the effect of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the life expectancy rate on economic growth in 33 Sub-Saharan African countries based on the availability of data over a period of 11 years
Summary
The productivity of many countries around the globe is adversely affected by the health-related problems of their labour force; these include the prevalence of communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. The United Nations (UN) Millennium Declaration in 2000 targeted 189 rich and poor countries (including African countries) to attain improvement in human development by the year 2015 This was followed by the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGSs), in which 8 targets were set: the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality rates, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development in these countries from 2005 to 2015. Some of the empirical literature that highlighted the effect of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS on growth concentrated more on single-country analysis These studies include: Arndt and Lewis (2000); Asiedu (2012); Bell et al (2006); Cuddington and Hancock (1995); MacFarlan and Sgherri (2001); and Thurlow and Wobst (2004).
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