01948nas a2200145 4500000000100000008004100001260001600042100001200058700001400070245007000084856016700154300001100321520145600332022001401788 2020 d bElsevier BV 1 aChewe M 1 aHangoma P 00 aDrivers of Health in sub-Saharan Africa: A Dynamic Panel Analysis uhttps://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S2590229620300113?token=D7A653467F5A277A2BCF03C97AA8C4F897B3DB39D1C30C01AF8FC1842DB0A063B696347635DC654ED86C3B5F6FF16C00 a100013 3 aGlobal life expectancy increased while infant mortality reduced substantially between the 19th and late 20th century. Although there is relatively mature literature on the drivers behind these gains in life expectancy and infant mortality, there is a dearth of studies on sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The few studies that do exist do not account for a broader array of determinants such as the quality of access to health services and the institutional quality which may have important implications for health policy. We contribute in filling this gap by estimating the effect of a rich set of socio-economic, environmental, health system and lifestyle factors on life expectancy and infant mortality using a panel of 30 sub-Saharan African countries and a dynamic Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for the period between 1995—2014.
Our findings show that increases in health expenditure, educational attainment, and health care access quality are associated with increases in life expectancy and reductions in infant mortality. Higher HIV prevalence is associated with reductions in life expectancy whereas urbanization, per capita income growth and access to clean water are positively associated with life expectancy.
We conclude that increases in life expectancy and reductions in infant mortality can be accelerated by paying particular attention to these drivers, including, healthcare quality access. a2590-2296