The Effectiveness of Health Expenditure on the Proximate and Ultimate Goals of Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa

Using the General Method of Moments technique we examine the effectiveness of health expenditure from 1995 to 2011 in 43 nations of Sub-Saharan Africa. Health expenditure is broken into resources to government and non-government entities, private not out-of-pocket, and private out-of-pocket, and we find that while it has a higher effect on the proximate targets such as immunization, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and nutrition, it has a lower effect on the ultimate goals which are life expectancy, infant, and child mortality. Public health expenditure would become more effective if public service delivery improves, in addition to more female education and inclusive healthcare systems. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.