PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

One of the numerous responsibilities of the government of any country is to invest in the various sectors of the economy. This should however be channeled to the appropriate sectors, such as the health sector, that will lead to a continual growth of the country. It is in the light of this, that this study looks at public Health expenditure on health and its effect on health outcomes in Nigeria. Health is central to the well being of the citizens. This study made an attempt to provide empirical evidence of the impact of public health expenditure on health outcomes (life expectancy) in Nigeria between 2000 to 2019. This study made use of the Unit Root Test, Johansen Co- integration and the Ordinary Least Squares Method econometric techniques to determine the relationship between public expenditure on health and health outcomes in Nigeria. The study found out that recurrent public health Expenditure, Foreign Direct investment had a positive and significant relationship with health outcome ( life expectancy) while Trade Openness had a negative and significant relationship with health outcomes (life expectancy) and Capital Public Health Expenditure was seen to be insignificant to health outcomes (life expectancy) in Nigeria . In line with the findings, government should continue its effort to provide seamless health care even to the poorest of the society as this would have a cushioning effect to influence the life expectancy of the citizens. To this end, it is recommended that the federal government should make judicious use of the revenue generated in the provision of heath equipment in all the public health care institutions in Nigeria and also build more of these public health facilities as this would greatly influence life expectancy of every Nigerian.