Which socio-economic groups benefit most from public health expenditure in Senegal? A dynamic benefit incidence analysis
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Despite efforts to enhance public investment in Senegal’s health sector, the equitable distribution of benefits between socioeconomic groups remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, our study examines the progressive (or regressive) nature of public health expenditure. Utilizing data from the latest survey on household living conditions (2018–2019) in conjunction with administrative data on health expenditure from the same period (provided by the Ministry of Health of Senegal), we performed a benefit incidence analysis. This entailed segmenting the population by poverty quintiles and subsequently estimating how each group utilized and benefitted from public health expenditure, according to level of care and geographical location. Additionally, we performed a marginal benefit analysis to discern the impact of an increase in public health expenditure on various socioeconomic groups. Our findings unveil a pro-rich distribution of benefits at both primary healthcare and hospital levels, observable both at national and regional levels. Moreover, disparities in the distribution of resource allocation between Senegal's 14 administrative regions were observed. Ultimately, our results indicate that under prevailing conditions, increasing public health expenditure would not yield a pro-poor distribution of benefits. Therefore, our research underscores the imperative of better targeting populations for greater equity between regions and social groups. • This study utilizes administrative data to accurately reflect health expenditure in Senegal. • Findings reveal disparities in the distribution of benefits between and within regions. • Public health expenditure are pro-rich at both primary healthcare and hospital levels. • Under current conditions, increasing public health expenditure would not yield a pro-poor distribution of benefits.
Source: SSM - Population Health
Authors: Mouhamed Samba, Ibrahima Thiam, Elisabeth Paul
Language: English
Subfield: Finance
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,760
OpenAlex ID: W4403083809