DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH-CARE EXPENDITURE IN AFRICA - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The paper presents some quantitative evidence on the relationship between certain socioeconomic and demographic factors and per capita health care expenditure in Africa. First, GNP per capita, percentage of births attended by health staff and foreign aid received per capita together explained 78.3% of the variance in health care expenditure. Second, per capita GNP is the most significant factor explaining differences in health care expenditure. Contrary to what has been found in comparisons of health care expenditure in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, we found that the income elasticity is close to unity. Furthermore, aid was consistently significant and positive in the three models estimated. Third, variables such as crude birth rate and the population under 15 years of age as percentage of total population were not significant.