EFFECT OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON HEALTH STATUS AND OUTCOME IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the impact of public health expenditure on health status and outcome in Nigeria. Annual time series data were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and the World Bank for the analysis. The study utilized the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) framework to capture the plausible short run and long run effect of public health expenditure on health indicators in Nigeria from 1988-2020. The study found that the in the long run, gross domestic product per capita and urban population have a significant positive relationship with life expectancy while CO2 emissions have a significant negative relationship with same. The opposite was the case with regards to mortality rate. In the short run, urban population was the only variable found to significantly affect life expectancy (it has a positive association with it). While CO2 was found to significantly and positively affect mortality rate, urban population significantly and negatively affected it. However, government health expenditure was found to have an insignificant but positive effect on both life expectancy and mortality rate. The study this, concludes that expenditure on healthcare helps improve the quality of life in Nigeria and recommend that the government should increase health expenditure, create more jobs and pursue private public partnership.