Public Health Expenditure Research Articles

Does Corruption Affect the Reduction in Children's Stunting Rate Caused by Foreign Aid?

Recent empirical evidence has indicated a potential avenue for ameliorating the nutritional status of children in developing nations through focused interventions in the realms of food and agriculture. This research delves into the issue of child stunting prevalence in developing countries, scrutinizing the impact of corruption on the efficacy of such interventions. Utilizing comprehensive data derived from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, this study meticulously analyzed evolving trends. Notably, the investigation revealed a diminishing prevalence of child stunting among both genders but the role of total aid emerged as inconsequential in contributing to this positive trend. Furthermore, an intriguing revelation surfaced, indicating that the battle against child malnutrition hinges not solely on the optimized distribution of foreign aid but significantly on the curbing of corruption. The research uncovered a notable improvement in children's nutrition correlated not with the augmentation of foreign aid but with the augmentation of public health expenditures, thereby emphasizing the pivotal role of corruption control. This discernment underscores the imperative need for targeted aid and robust governance mechanisms to effectively combat the formidable challenge of child malnutrition.

Eco-friendly revenues for healthcare: assessing the relationship between green taxation, public health expenditures, and life expectancy in China.

The synergy of green taxation, public health expenditures, and life expectancy emerges as a compelling narrative in the intricate symphony of environmental responsibility and public well-being. Therefore, this study examine the impact of green taxation on life expectancy and the moderating role of public health expenditure on the said nexus, particularly in the context of China, an emerging economy. Statistical data is collected from the National Bureau of Statistics of China to empirically examine the proposed relationships. The dataset contains provincial data across years. Using fixed-effect and system GMM regression models alongwith control variables, the results found a positive and statistically significant influence of green taxation on life expectancy. Moreover, public health expenditures have a positive and statistically significant partial moderating impact on the direct relationship. These findings suggest that the higher cost of pollution encourages individuals and businesses to shift to less environmentally harmful alternatives, subsequently improving public health. Moreover, government investment in the health sector increases the availability and accessibility of health facilities; thus, the positive impact of green taxation on public health gets more pronounced. The findings significantly contribute to the fields of environmental and health economics and provide a new avenue of research for the academic community and policymakers.

Public Health Expenditure and Health Outcomes in Comoros: An Asymmetric Evidence Using Multiple Threshold Nonlinear ARDL Model

Public Health Expenditure and Health Outcomes in Comoros: An Asymmetric Evidence Using Multiple Threshold Nonlinear ARDL Model

Economic Development and Public Health Expenditures Nexus for South Asian Countries

Economic Development and Public Health Expenditures Nexus for South Asian Countries

Public Health Expenditure and Infant Mortality Rate in Nigeria

This study investigated the effect of public health expenditure on infant mortality rate in Nigeria from 2002 to 2021. To achieve the above objective, this study utilized data on infant mortality rate, total government expenditure on health and migration of doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria - doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria but working in other countries from OECD Health Statistics, 2021, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, the United Nations Population Division and Statistical Bulletin of Nigeria’s apex bank. The study employed an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds testing procedure for data analyses. The results revealed that in the long run, total government expenditure on health, as well as migration of doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria - doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria but working in other countries have negative and insignificant relationship with infant mortality rate in Nigeria. However, in the short run, total government expenditure on health, as well as migration of doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria - doctors and nurses trained in Nigeria but working in other countries have positive and significant relationship with infant mortality rate in Nigeria. What this means is that though there has been expenditures on health sector in Nigeria by the government from 2002 to 2021, but the expenditures are low and couldn’t reduce infant mortality rate to a near-zero level in Nigeria. Also, in the short-term, the movement of doctors and nurses from Nigeria to others countries of the world, exacerbated infant mortality rate in Nigeria during the period of study. Based on the forgoing, it is recommended here that government should spend at least 15% of its annual budget on health sector as agreed by African leaders at Abuja in 2015. Government should also reduce the exodus of Nigerian doctors to other countries of the world. This, the government may be able to achieve by increasing budgetary allocation to healthcare sector, enhance doctors’ remuneration, ensure a better work environment with modern healthcare facilities together with general enhancements in basic life facilities including housing, health insurance, security, constant power supply and good roads.

Public health expenditure, government effectiveness and labour productivity in West Africa

Purpose: This study aimed at empirically exploring how the expenditure of public health and the effectiveness of government impacted the productivity of labour in West Africa.
 Design/Methodology/Approach: This study used data from 1980 to 2022 generated by the World Bank and adopted multiple regression, mediation and correlation analysis. Additionally, the co-integration test of Johansen and the residual-based test using the Engel-Granger approach were used. 
 Findings: Expenditures on the health of the public and the effectiveness of government indicated some positive but insignificant impacts on labour productivity in the short run. At the same time, the expenditure on public health indicated a long-term, significant and adverse impact on labour productivity in Nigeria, Togo, Guinea, Senegal and Mali.
 Conclusion: The present study explored how expenditure on public health and the effectiveness of the government impacted the productivity of labour in West Africa. Apparently, the level of public health expenditure and government effectiveness are yet to positively impact the productivity of labour.
 Practical Implications: These results presented the critical role of public health expenditure and government effectiveness in enhancing the productivity of labour. Therefore, the study suggests that the government invest significantly in healthcare services in order to promote and safeguard the health of the people.
 Contribution to the Literature: This study offers an innovative perspective on labour productivity by highlighting the crucial roles played by governments in public health investment for productivity.

Prevalence of Anemia in Children of India: A State-level Analysis from NFHS-4 and NFHS-5

As per the report of NFHS-5 in India 514 districts have more than 40 per cent prevalence of anemia among the children aged between 6-59 months. The present study analyses the status of anemia prevalence among the children (6-59 months) across states of India using the data from NFHS-4 and 5 factsheets. The study finds that prevalence of anemia in children (6-59 months) has increased for most of the states. The results of pooled OLS regression suggest that prevalence of iron-deficiency in women (age 15-49 years), public health expenditure and proper diet intake by children are important determinants of child anemia prevalence. The latter two factors have negative relation with child anemia prevalence whereas the former one has a positive relation with child anemia.

The fiscal effects of armed conflicts in Africa

AbstractThis study examines the impact of armed conflicts on the fiscal capacity of African governments. It made use of a data set covering 1997–2021 for 50 countries, as well as the system dynamic generalized method of moment estimation technique. The results show that, in the short run, conflicts undermine tax revenue, mount pressure on military expenditure, and force governments to rely more on mineral resource rents for their fiscal needs. As conflicts persist, this fiscal feature changes to a pattern that reflects a decline in mineral resource earnings and an increase in tax revenue. The impact on public health expenditure also changes from an increasing to a decreasing pattern, whereas the positive impact on military expenditure and external borrowing persists over time. The findings suggest that African countries in conflict can address their fiscal challenges by observing these patterns and putting in place policies that protect public resources (e.g., the adoption of digital financial technology protocols to facilitate remote revenue collection and strategic protection of mineral resource‐endowed zones from insurgents' control). Overall, enhancing government effectiveness and strengthening the institutions of governance is important to facilitate a quick return to normalcy in the event of conflict and to prevent future conflicts.

Frontiers in chronic fatigue syndrome research: An analysis of the top 100 most influential articles in the field.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex constellation of symptoms that significantly reduces the quality of life among affected individuals and increases public health expenditures. We conducted a search on the Web of Science Core Collection database and selected the top 100 cited articles in the field of CFS. Several literature analysis tools, including CiteSpace 6.1.R6, VOSviewer 1.6.19, and Scimago Graphica 1.0.30, were utilized to integrate the most influential research papers and academic journals in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the CFS field. The top 100 highly-cited publications were published in 67 reputable journals, with contributions from 250 institutions across 26 countries/regions involved in CFS research. This demonstrates the extensive attention and coverage of CFS research by high-quality academic journals and institutions, highlighting the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature of CFS studies. The journal with the highest publication volume and total citations was Lancet. The top 5 co-occurring keywords were chronic fatigue syndrome, cognitive behavior therapy, epidemiology, definition, and disorders, indicating the ongoing attention researchers have devoted to the diagnostic criteria and clinical studies of CFS. Cluster analysis results suggested that primary care, infectious retrovirus, gene expression, and metabolomics may become the focal points and trends in future CFS research. The prospective research directions in this field include the search for biological markers, with a particular focus on immunology; the advancement of diagnostic techniques; the screening of risk genes associated with CFS; and the conduct of epidemiological investigations.

Green Hydrogen Production and Public Health Expenditure in Hydrogen-Exporting Countries

Energy resources play a significant role as a production input in many economic sectors, such as production of goods and transportation. Moreover, increased energy usage may result in increased air pollution, resulting in negative societal health effects. This paper aims to examine how the production of green hydrogen energy, as proxied by low-carbon energy production, and per capita public health spending are related. This study employs various techniques that are specific to panel data, such as panel cointegration tests, second-generation stationarity tests, and panel long-run estimates, The research has been conducted on a sample of 67 hydrogen exporting nations during the period from 2000 to 2021. The study revealed that hydrogen energy production causes a rise in per capita public health spending. Policymakers should encourage the usage and production of hydrogen energy to decrease the negative consequences of using energy that emits CO2. Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions helps nations to increase the proportion of government spending on public health per person. Furthermore, in hydrogen-exporting countries, an increase in the production of hydrogen leads to accumulate more funds from exporting hydrogen that will be used to increase spending on public health.

Effect of public health expenditure on poverty in the provinces of Peru

El objetivo del estudio fue determinar si la ejecución del gasto público de capital en salud tiene efecto sobre la reducción de la pobreza monetaria a nivel de las provincias del Perú en los años 2007 y 2018. Los datos fueron recabados de las instituciones del estado peruano, y se organizaron bajo el formato de panel-data. En total se trabajó con información correspondiente a 157 provincias. Los resultados obtenidos indican que existe una fuerte desigualdad en la ejecución del gasto público de capital en salud (índice de GINI, 0.72), también sugieren que la pobreza monetaria ha tenido una tendencia de disminución más o menos homogénea. El análisis de regresión por efectos fijos confirma que la ejecución del gasto público de capital en salud redujo la pobreza en (-0.0012685), corroborando la postura de que la inversión pública en salud es un factor que efectivamente contribuye a la reducción de la pobreza.

Prevalence of Smoking Habit and Its Associated Factors Among the Students of Public Sector Universities in Karachi

Smoking, which accounts for a large portion of preventable deaths worldwide, has a huge negative impact on public health expenditures, reduces lifespans, and reduces daily productivity. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of smoking and its associated factors among students enrolled in public sector universities in Karachi in order to address this urgent issue. Data were gathered using questionnaires that students completed, and they were then rigorously statistically analyzed using the chi-square method and IBM SPSS Statistics 20. The results of this study provide insight into important factors affecting students' smoking habits. Notably, gender was crucial, with significant differences between male and female pupils. Another important component that emerged was age, with smoking prevalence rising sharply as people aged. The survey also found that there were significant correlations between students' smoking habits and those of their siblings and close friends. Additionally, it was discovered that people's religious beliefs have a big impact on their smoking habits. These findings highlight the critical importance of including these aspects in the creation of successful anti-smoking initiatives geared toward college students. The prevalence of smoking among this group can be lowered by using personalized treatments that consider factors including gender, age, peer pressure, and religious attitudes. This will ultimately enhance public health and lower healthcare costs.

Do public health expenditures affect maternal and child health in Madagascar?

BackgroundPrevious studies have argued that the relationship between health expenditures and health outcomes is more significant among the poor than the non-poor. However, public spending alone does not improve health status. Quality of governance is considered not only as an important determinant of health outcomes but also of the efficiency of public expenditure on health. In low-income countries, barriers to quality service provision can be observed, which may explain the effects of health expenditures. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the relationship between health expenditures and maternal and child mortality in Madagascar and the potential bottlenecks in the flow of funds for maternal and child health.MethodsUsing panel data, fixed and random effect models for the 22 regions of Madagascar over the period 2010 to 2017 were used. Then bottlenecks related to the flow of funds for maternal and child health were identified.ResultsThe results reveal that, on the one hand, funding for maternal health, mainly constituted by equipment endowments for health facilities, significantly contributes to the improvement of maternal health (-0.35; p-value = 0.00). On the other hand, child health financing, often realized through transfers of funds to the health system, does not affect children’s health (0.22; p-value = 0.88). The bottleneck analysis illustrates that the transferred funds can suffer from delay or misappropriation and only few parts reach beneficiaries.ConclusionsEquipment endowments contributed more to health improvement and would be more effective than monetary financing.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH EXPENDITURES: EVIDENCE FROM THE DRISCOLL-KRAAY ESTIMATOR

In this study employing panel data methods, it was aimed to econometrically test the relationship between human development and health expenditures in 25 OECD countries using data from the 2003-2019 period. For this purpose, in the econometric model established, the Human Development Index is included as the dependent variable to represent human development, while public health expenditures and household voluntary health expenditures are included as independent variables to represent health expenditures. The results of the empirical analyses indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship between health expenditures and human development. Accordingly, considering the overall panel based on the aforementioned period and group of countries, it is concluded that a 1 unit increase in public health expenditures increases the Human Development Index value by 0.11 units. Similarly, it was observed that a 1 unit increase in household voluntary health expenditures also increases the Human Development Index value by 0.03 units. Therefore, it is concluded that increases in investments in health, both by the public sector and at the household level, and thus the increase in health expenditures, will support human development in this group of countries.

Public Health Expenditure and Health Indicators on Productivity in Nigeria

Health as a human capital affects productivity directly through its impact on labour productivity. The study employs econometric techniques to verify the time series properties and the relationship among public health expenditure, maternal mortality rate, prevalence rate, and productivity in Nigeria. The Dickey-Fuller Generalized Least Squares (DF-GLS) test was used to ascertain the order of integration of the time series. The empirical results showed that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables. Also, the findings revealed that the maternal mortality rate has a negative insignificant effect on productivity in the short run. The study thus recommends that further study should be carried out to ascertain the cause of the negative relationship between public health expenditure and productivity in Nigeria. The government should increase public health expenditure; improve facilities for maternal healthcare to increase productivity in Nigeria.

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS as a Health Indicator on Productivity in Nigeria

This paper analyzed empirically the impact of public health expenditure on productivity in Nigeria. The study employs econometric techniques to verify the time series properties and the relationship among HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, life expectancy rate and productivity in Nigeria. The findings revealed that maternal mortality rate and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate have a negative significant impact on productivity in the long run. Again, the life expectancy rate was found to have a positive significant effect on productivity. In the short run, the multiple regression results showed that public health expenditure has a positive insignificant impact on productivity in Nigeria. Also, the findings revealed that the maternal mortality rate has a negative insignificant effect on productivity in the short run. The study consequently proposes that more research be conducted to determine the root reason of the negative link between public health spending and productivity in Nigeria. To boost Nigerian productivity, the government should enhance public health spending and strengthen maternity healthcare facilities.

Health expenditure and health outcomes in Latin America and the CaribbeanGastos em saúde e resultados de saúde na América Latina e no Caribe

To determine the effect of public and private health expenditure on health outcomes in Latin American and Caribbean countries from 2000 to 2019. A health production function was used, wherein life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rate were considered as indicators of health outcomes. Panel data econometrics were applied, using data from a 33-country sample for the period from 2000 to 2019. According to estimates, a 1% increase in public health expenditure is associated with a 0.019% increase in life expectancy, and a 1% increase in private health expenditure increases life expectancy by 0.023%. At the same time, a 1% increase in public health expenditure reduces the infant mortality rate by -0.168%, whereas the effect of private health expenditure on infant mortality is not statistically significant. The results provide evidence of the effect of public health expenditure in reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy, while private health expenditure has a positive effect only on the latter metric. The findings have important political implications for the countries of the Region in the post-pandemic context of limited fiscal space.

Revisiting the proven relationship of green leadership, green education, and green finance with sustainable development goal 3 in the context of China: does public health expenditure really mediate the relationship?

How effectively our leaders are trained and prepared for the future is the ultimate success as it helps in achieving sustainable development goals. Simultaneously, education also holds a central position to acknowledge social, environmental, and ethical issues. Besides, healthcare sector is the major subject of discussion when there is a discussion of sustainable development, the reason being its direct linkage with SDG 3 which purely preaches healthcare and well-being. The healthcare sector itself aspires to protect health; however, it is also the highest emitter of pollution that creates vicious cycle. This establishes a greater interest to determine the factors that break the cycle through the sustainable healthcare organizations which is subjected to reduce emissions and protect environment, nature, and society. The study specifically focusing on sustainable development goal 3 intends to examine the collective role of green leadership, green education, and green finance from the perspective of private sector employees. We explore whether these factors are helpful to achieve SDG3 agenda in the presence of mediator, public health expenditure. With the help of PLS-methodology, the study concludes that green leadership and green education are strong indicators of SDG3. Besides, green finance also facilitates economies to find innovative ways through which health and well-being of individuals can be taken care of. The positive and significant mediation effect of public health expenditure indicates that there is a need to dedicate the efforts toward public health expenditures.

Impact of a heart failure multidisciplinary clinic on the reduction of healthcare-related events and costs: the GEstIC study.

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly in developed countries and significantly impacts public health expenditures. Patients with HF usually have associated comorbidities that require multidisciplinary management. This study aims to demonstrate the benefits of a multidisciplinary clinic in reducing all-cause hospitalizations and HF events (HF hospitalizations and urgent HF visits) in a real-world setting. Finally, the study evaluates the associated costs of HF events. This observational study included patients admitted to GEstIC, a multidisciplinary Portuguese HF clinic, from January 2013 to February 2019, who had one-year follow-up. Hospitalizations and HF events, total days spent in the hospital during HF hospitalizations, and HF events-related costs, in the year before and the year after GEstIC admission, were compared. Of the 487 patients admitted to the GEstIC, 287 were eligible for the study sample. After one year of HF patients' multidisciplinary management at GEstIC, there was a 53.7% reduction in all-cause hospitalizations (462 vs. 214), a 71.7% reduction in HF hospitalizations (392 vs. 111), and a 39.1% reduction in urgent HF visits (87 vs. 53). As a result, there was a significant decrease of 12.6 days in the length of hospital stay due to HF per patient (15.6 vs. 3.0, p < 0.001). This translated into the release of 9.9 hospital beds in the year following admission to GEstIC. The average total savings associated with the reduction of HF events was €5,439.77 per patient (6,774.15 vs. 1,334.38, p < 0.001), representing a total cost reduction of €1,561,213. Furthermore, the significant reduction in the number of all events was independent of the patient's left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Significant reductions in all-cause and HF hospitalizations and urgent HF visits were observed with the implementation of this multidisciplinary clinic for HF patients' management. This was particularly important for patients with LVEF >40%. Before GEstIC, there was no medical intervention to improve the prognosis of these patients. The reduction of over one million euros in health-related costs after only one year of person-centered multidisciplinary management highlights the need to replicate this approach in other national healthcare institutions.

Health, economic growth, and Gini index in North America using a panel model

Objective: The objective of this paper is assessed the nexus among health status, economic growth, and the Gini index in North America and its countries using a panel model. Materials and Method: The materials consist of annual data regarding life expectancy, government health expenditure as percentage of the gross domestic product, Gini index, and gross domestic product at constant 2015 US$ for the period 2000-2019. The method applies a panel model for North America and its three countries: Canada, Mexico and The United States. North America diversity treatment among countries is dealt with fixed and random effects. Results: North America inhabitants health status are negatively influenced by an increasing income inequality, and a reduction on economic growth. The country that expends more in health care is The United States, follow by Canada and Mexico. The biggest reduction on life expectancy from an increase in income inequality is in The United States, followed by Canada and Mexico. Life expectancy increases when Canada and The United States experience economic growth. The countries with inarticulate health policy responses to an increase in income inequality are first Mexico followed by The United States. Conclusions: In North America and its countries an increasing income inequality reduces life expectancy, and government health expenditure. Economic growth benefits life expectancy and government health expenditure. Health status seems to improve with a reduction in income inequality and a greater public health expenditure. Therefore, policies that increases income inequality and reduces public health expenditure seems to be advocates of a reduction: in health status, population welfare and economic growth.