An Assessment of Health Expenditure Determinants in Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the determinants of health expenditure in Nigeria. The stidy covers a period of 34 years that is between 1976 and 2010. Cointergartion and error correction model was used to estimate a model that expressed health expenditure as a function of number of physicians, number of nurses, number of hospitals, reported cases of Malaria, HIV AIDS, tuberculosis, population and the GDP. The result showed that number of physicians, number of nurses, and number of hospitals have a long run positive relationship with health expenditure in Nigeria. Their effects are also significant showing that they are important determinants of health expenditure in Nigeria. However, cases of various diseases such as Malaria, HIV AIDS, and tuberculosis did not have a significant long run relationship with health expenditure. This shows that the bulk of health expenditure in Nigeria goes to payment of salaries while little is left for health facilities maintenance and development. Again expenditure on the diseases in Nigeria appears not to commensurate with the cases of diseases. It is recommended that government should improve in the area of capital expenditure so as to improve health care provision in Nigeria.