Child Mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: Why Public Health Spending Matters

Carl Grekou and Romain Perez

No 2014-28, EconomiX Working Papers from University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX

Abstract: Since 2000, child mortality has dramatically decreased in Africa. Based on an econometrical analysis over 45 sub-Saharan African countries, this paper analyses the determinants of such evolution, and shows that urbanization, sanitation improvement and GDP growth per capita played a critical role in this overall improvement over 2000-2011. The increase in public health expenditures proved to be also decisive, though the elasticity with mortality rate is much weaker. Reaching the Abuja target of 15% of public health expenditure in total public expenditures would have decreased the under-5 child mortality rate by 9% over 2001-2011. It could further reduce this rate by 14% over 2012-2021, and allow Africa to save 19.8 million of children lives. It would also help the region to achieve the Millennium Development Goal on child mortality (reduce by two thirds under-5 child mortality over 1990-2015) by 2022-23, while it would not be reached before 2027 otherwise, according to our estimates.

Keywords: Millennium Development Goals; MDGs; Under-5 mortality rate; sub-Saharan Africa; Public expenditure on health. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H51 I12 I18 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev and nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:drm:wpaper:2014-28

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