Effect of public health expenditure on maternal mortality ratio in the West African Economic and Monetary Union.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Maternal mortality in West African Economic and Monetary Union countries (WAEMU) is the highest compared with other regions in the world. The majority of health care sources in WAEMU are private and largely involve out-of-pocket expenditures, which may prevent healthcare access. Maternal mortality is an important indicator of the level of attention given to mothers before, during and after childbirth and thus of a system's overall coherence and capacity for anticipation. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the effects of public health expenditure on maternal mortality in WAEMU. METHODS: The study used panel data from the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) from 1996 to 2018 covering 7 countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. The two-step least squares (2SLS) on health demand function was used to test the effect of public health expenditure on maternal mortality. RESULTS: Public health care spending showed a significant negative association with maternal mortality. However, private health expenditure was positively associated with maternal mortality. CONCLUSION: Public health care expenditure remains a crucial component of reducing maternal mortality. In this region, the authorities need to increase public health spending to build more health centers and improve the equipment of existing infrastructures. Additionally, it is important to reduce the financial barriers for pregnant women. To this end, the operationalization of universal health insurance could help reduce these financial barriers by reducing direct household payments.