Foreign Aid for Health and Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Death of children in their first one year after birth has been a major health issue of great concern in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to lack of fund in developing countries, foreign aid has been a major supplement to finance basic sectors which impact directly on socioeconomic lives of the people including the health sector. The region has been a recipient of health aid overtime especially after the millennium declaration but knowledge of such on specific health indicator such as infant mortality rate is vague. This study therefore assessed the effects of foreign aid for the health sector on infant mortality in the region. The study used data from 2000-2019 covering forty-six (46) SSA countries retrieved from the OECD, WDI, WGI and UNICEF. The data were analyzed with system GMM while Pooled OLS and the Fixed Effect models were estimated to check for robustness. Inferences were drawn at 5 percent level of significance. Results revealed that health aid, domestic health expenditure, access to improved water and government effectiveness reduced IMR. The study concluded that health aid improved infant mortality in the region and recommended deliberate efforts aimed at improved budgetary spending on healthcare, more judicious utilization of foreign aid and improved provision of safe drinking water to the populace in order to reduce infant mortality in the region.