Tobacco consumption, or smoking, is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide, including in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). In order to reduce the consumption of tobacco products, it is necessary to understand the factors that drive it. However, little is known about the socioeconomic determinants of tobacco smoking in the KSA. This study, therefore, investigates the socioeconomic factors that influence tobacco smoking in the KSA. Using a national health survey, the study employs logistic and negative binomial regressions to examine the socioeconomic factors associated with smoking. Moreover, the inequality concentration indices (CIs) are used to assess inequalities in smoking. The results reveal that the smoking prevalence is 14.09% of the 8813 respondents considered in this study. The prevalence of smoking is higher among men (25.34%) than among women (1.91%). On the determinants of smoking, the logistic regression results show that higher income is associated with lower likelihood of smoking. Other factors significantly associated with current smoking status are marital status, gender, age, and region of residence. Similarly, gender, age and region of residence are significantly associated with smoking intensity. As regards the inequality analysis, at the national level, the results show that smoking is concentrated among those with higher socioeconomic status (income: CI = 0.071, p < 0.01; education: CI = 0.095, p < 0.01), but with significant regional variations. By gender disaggregation, the results also show that the income-based CIs are positive for both males and females, but statistically insignificant. Education-based CI is positive for males and significant (CI = 0.057, p < 0.05), while it is negative and insignificant for females during the study period. The findings call for targeted tobacco control measures focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, as well as factors such as age, gender, marital status and region of residence.

The effect of government spending on population’s health has received attention over the past decades. This study re-examines the link between government health expenditures and health outcomes to establish whether government intervention in the health sector improves outcomes. The study uses annual data for the period 1980–2014 on Ghana. The ordinary least squares (OLS) and the two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimators are employed for analyses; the regression estimates are then used to conduct cost-effectiveness analysis. The results show that, aside from income, public health expenditure contributed to the improvements in health outcomes in Ghana for the period. We find that, overall, increasing public health expenditure by 10% averts 0.102–4.4 infant and under-five deaths in every 1000 live births while increasing life expectancy at birth by 0.77–47 days in a year. For each health outcome indicator, the effect of income dominates that of public spending. The cost per childhood mortality averted ranged from US$0.20 to US$16, whereas the cost per extra life year gained ranged from US$7 to US$593.33 (2005 US$) during the period. Although the health effect of income outweighs that of public health spending, high (and rising) income inequality makes government intervention necessary. In this respect, development policy should consider raising health sector investment inter alia to improve health conditions.

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. This presents a major burden to health systems and to society in South Africa. Collectively, these conditions are overwhe...

Health is an outcome indicator of economic growth and development of a country. Healthcare is a major factor for health status. In this regard, healthcare expenditure is a vital input for the health production function. In this context, this study examined the effect of public health expenditure on health status in Ghana. Annual time-series data on infant mortality rate, real per capita income, literacy levels and female labour force participation rate for the period 1990-2012 have been used. Infant mortality rate was used as the output variable. To test the relationship between input-output variables, Ordinary Least Squares and Newey-West regression techniques were used. The regression estimates suggest that real per capita income, public health expenditure, education and female presence in the labour market were negatively related to infant mortality rate. However, the elasticity coefficients of female participation in the labour market and real per capita income were statistically insignificant at 5% level. This study concludes that public health expenditure and literacy/education improve health status by reducing infant mortality. The favourable effect of education or literacy on health is greater than that of public health spending whereas the effect of real per capita come on health was found to be weak. The findings provide the impetus for government to raise literacy level and its health spending in the country to promote health.

While financial inclusion is highly touted for enhancing welfare, very little evidence exists with regard to its effect on population health, especially in Africa (where population health is relatively poor). This study therefore provides an empirical evidence of the effect of financial inclusion on population health in 33 African countries from 2004 to 2018. Life expectancy and death rate are used as proxies for population health while four indicators of financial inclusion (number of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), number of commercial bank branches, number of borrowers, and outstanding deposits) are used. Moreover, we use the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to generate a combined index of financial inclusion using these four indicators. For multivariate estimation purposes, the dynamic panel system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) regression is employed. The findings of the study show that, financial inclusion enhances population health. Thus, financial inclusion should be deepened in order to improve population health in Africa.