INCOME AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN THE ANGLOPHONE WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES: A DYNAMIC HETEROGENEOUS APPROACH

Abstract

The health status of a population is a very vital economic indicator because unhealthiness can have a significant impact on households’ productivity. The health status in the African Countries is well below that of the rest of the world. This study investigated the effect of income on health outcomes in the Anglophone West African Countries from 2000-2019. Data were obtained from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, and Global Health Expenditure Data bases.  The model of the study is based on Grossman Model (1972). This study employed Dynamic Heterogenous Panel Regression (Panel ARDL) because of the variability of the countries in Anglophone West Africa. Results revealed that per capita gross domestic product, Out-of-Pocket health expenditure, income inequality, and current health expenditure have significant effect on maternal mortality, under-five mortality, neo-natal mortality and infant mortality in the Anglophone West African Countries in the long run. The study therefore, recommends that health sector should be adequately funded, out-of-pocket health expenditure should be discouraged, bridge the gap of income inequality and fiscal policies to improve health sector be should be employed in the sub-region.