Cost-benefit analysis of a multicomponent breastfeeding promotion and support intervention in a developing country.

Background: Studies evaluating breastfeeding promotion and support interventions suggest some economic benefits. This study assessed the direct and indirect costs of a multicomponent breastfeeding promotion and support intervention during the first two years of the infant's life. Methods: This is a cost-benefit analysis of data generated from a randomized controlled trial that aimed at investigating whether provision of a multicomponent breastfeeding promotion and support intervention to Lebanese mothers in the first six months postpartum would improve breastfeeding rates compared to standard obstetric and pediatric care. Data on 339 participants included information on maternal socio-demographics and health, infant nutrition and health, and direct and indirect costs of the intervention. The primary outcome was the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of the intervention at one, six, 12, and 24 months. Secondary outcomes included the overall costs of infant nutrition and infant-mother dyad health costs during the first two years. Multiple linear regression models investigated the effect of the multicomponent intervention (independent variable) on the overall infant nutrition cost and the overall mother-infant health costs (as dependent variables), adjusting for monthly income and number of children (confounders) at different time points in the first two years. Similar regression models investigated the association between infant nutrition type (exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, artificial milk) and infant nutrition costs and infant-mother health costs. Intention to treat analyses were conducted using SPSS (version 24). Statistical significance was set at a p-value below 0.05. Results: The prevalence of Exclusive/Predominant breastfeeding among participants declined from 51.6% in the first month to 6.6% at the end of second year. The multicomponent breastfeeding intervention incurred 485 USD more in costs than the control group during the first six months but was cost-efficient by the end of the first year (incremental net benefits of 374 USD; BCR=2.44), and by the end of the second year (incremental net benefits of 472 USD; BCR=2.82). In adjusted analyses, the intervention was significantly associated with fewer infant illness visits in the first year (p=0.045). Stratified analyses by the type of infant nutrition revealed that infants who were on Exclusive/Predominant, or Any Breastfeeding had significantly more favorable health outcomes at different time points during the first two years (p<0.05) compared to infants receiving Artificial Milk only, with health benefits being highest in the Exclusive/Predominant breastfeeding group. Moreover, Exclusive/Predominant and Any Breastfeeding had significantly lower costs of infant illness visits, hospitalizations, and infant medications during the two years (p<0.05), but had additional cost for maternal non-routine doctor visits due to breastfeeding (all p values <0.05). Whereas the overall cost (direct and indirect) during the first six months was significantly lower for the Exclusive/Predominant breastfeeding infants (p=0.001), they were similar in infants on Mixed Feeding or Artificial Milk. Conclusions: Breastfeeding is associated with significant economic and infant health benefits in the first two years. In the context of the current economic crisis in Lebanon, this study provides further evidence to policymakers on the need to invest in national breastfeeding promotion and support interventions.

Inequalities in Wellbeing in Lebanese Children and Different Refugee Subpopulations: A Multidimensional Child Deprivation Analysis.

Background and Objectives: This study constitutes the first attempt to describe the overlapping deprivations faced by Lebanese children (Lebanese) and that of the three sub-populations of refugees living in Lebanon: Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, Palestinian refugees from Syria and Syrian refugees. Methods: Using data from the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Household Survey 2016 (n = 10,555 Lebanese; 7,106 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon; 2,768 Palestinian refugees from Syria and 5,891 Syrian refugee children aged 2 to 17 years old), we report on single and overlapping deprivations (at least two concurrent deprivations) using indicators related to survival (nutrition, health, water, sanitation and overcrowding), development (education) and protection (labor, exposure to violence and early marriage). Maternal education and geographical correlates of deprivation were explored using multivariable logistic regression models clustering for children in the same households. Main Results: In terms of co-occurrence of deprivations, Syrian refugees had the highest prevalence in all age groups (68.5%, 2-4y and 65.7%, 6-17y), followed by Palestinian refugees from Syria (46.2%, 2-4y and 45.5%, 6-17y), Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon (28.9%, 2-4y and 23.7%, 6-17y), with Lebanese children having the lowest prevalence (13.2%, 2-4y and 15.3, 6-17y). About half of Palestinian refugees from Syria and Syrian refugees (6-17y) were deprived in protection and housing. Education deprivation is of primary concern for Syrian children. Higher maternal education was consistently associated with lower odds of co-occurrence of deprivations among children aged 6-17y. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of including refugee populations in reporting frameworks. This analysis additionally generates geographical and socio-economic profiles of the deprived children and identifies key deprivation areas of the affected sub-groups to inform effective policy design especially in light of the prevailing economic crisis. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12187-023-10040-2.

The determinants of sustained adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures among older Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

INTRODUCTION: Lebanon has battled the COVID-19 pandemic in the midst of an economic crisis. The evolution of the pandemic and a fragile health system have meant that public health policy has had to rely heavily on non-pharmaceutical interventions for disease control. However, changes in disease dynamics, an unraveling economy, and pandemic fatigue have meant that disease control policies need to be updated. METHODS: Using recent and timely data on older (50 years and above) Syrian refugees in Lebanon, this paper uses multivariate linear probability models to explore the determinants of adherence to two non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 prevention measures (wearing a mask and avoiding social gatherings) among this high-risk subgroup in a vulnerable population. Among respondents who report adhering to these measures, the paper also investigates the determinants of sustained adherence over a period of 6 months. RESULTS: The findings suggest that no individual-level characteristics were robustly associated with mask wearing. For avoiding social gatherings, education was inversely associated with adherence to this preventive measure. Avoiding social gatherings was also significantly lower for residents of informal tented settlements (ITSs). Among initial adherents, and for both preventive practices, ITS dwellers were also significantly less likely to maintain adherence. CONCLUSION: Identifying variables associated with adherence to non-pharmaceutical preventive practices, particularly for vulnerable groups, can help inform and refine interventions in the face of changing conditions. The material, physical, administrative and socio-economic constraints of life in an ITS suggest that avoiding social gatherings is hardly feasible. Yet despite the challenging conditions of ITSs, the indication to wear a mask is initially complied with, suggesting that tailoring policies to the limits and constrains of context can lead to successful outcomes even in very adverse settings.

Child deprivation among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Palestinian refugees from Syria living in Lebanon: a cross-sectional analysis of co-occurrence of deprivation indicators.

BACKGROUND: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (PRL) and Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) living in Lebanon have high poverty rates. As the social, economic, and physical environment in which a child develops is a strong determinant of health and wellbeing, a comprehensive approach that recognises the influence of multidimensional deprivation on child wellbeing is needed. This study investigates overlaps (co-occurrences) in deprivation indicators experienced by Palestinian children compared to those experienced by other vulnerable children living alongside them in Lebanon; children who are Syrian refugees (SYR) and children who are Lebanese nationals (LBN). METHODS: This analysis adopted a life-cycle approach using data from the UNICEF 2016 Lebanon Household Survey, and included data on children aged 2-17 years (PRL, n=7106; PRS, n=2768; LBN, n=10555; SYR n=5891). We report on indicators relating to early childhood (24-59 months) and school age (6-17 years), including child survival (nutrition, health, water, sanitation, and overcrowding), child development (education), and child protection (labour, exposure to violence, and early marriage), as well as the co-occurrence of these deprivation indicators. Socio-demographic and geographical correlates of child deprivation were explored using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis, a using sampling weights and clustering for children in the same households. Analyses were conducted using Stata 15. FINDINGS: Among children aged 24-59 months, 28·9% (347 of 1202) of PRL and 46·2% (260 of 563) of PRS children were deprived in at least two dimensions, compared with 13·2% (67 of 508) of LBN and 68·5% (915 of 1335) of SYR children. Co-occurring deprivations were highest across the protection and overcrowding dimensions in Palestinian refugee children aged 6-17 years (PRL, 14·2% [769 of 5421]; PRS, 26·7% [531 of 1985]). Across all ages, PRS children were more likely to be deprived in two dimensions than PRL children. However, indicators of health and education deprivation were lower in PRL and PRS children than in SYR children. Geographical disparities in deprivation existed within all four populations, with the highest disparity among those living in North Lebanon and the Bekaa. Higher maternal education (completed intermediate education) was consistently associated with lower odds of having at least two concurrent deprivations among children aged 6-17 years (LBN odds ratio [OR] 0·1, 95% CI 0·1-0·2, p<0·0001; PRL OR 0·3, 95% CI 0·3-0·5, p<0·0001; PRS OR 0·5, 95% CI 0·3-0·7, p=0·0002; SYR OR 0·4, 95% CI 0·2-0·7, p=0·0004). INTERPRETATION: The most common overlaps in deprivation indicators were in housing (overcrowding) and protection (exposure to violence) among PRL and PRS children, highlighting the need to focus simultaneously on housing improvements and protection programmes. Deprivation in health and education were relatively low as PRS children have been included in the well-established UNRWA health and education systems, largely protecting them from poor health and education outcomes. FUNDING: UNICEF Lebanon. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions do not necessarily reflect the view of UNICEF.

A multidimensional measure of wellbeing among youth: a cross-sectional study of the Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon.

BACKGROUND: Increasing refugee populations worldwide highlight the need for development indicators that cover refugees, especially as they tend to be excluded from national statistics. Refugee youth face double exclusion, as most wellbeing indices are not youth-specific. We developed a youth wellbeing index (YWI) for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (PRL) and Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) living in Lebanon, with the aim of providing a snapshot of youth wellbeing to inform evidence-based youth-specific development strategies. METHODS: The YWI was developed and its data generated using information from the 2015 survey of PRL and PRS, which was approved by the American University of Beirut Institutional Review Board. The wellbeing of PRL (n=3940) and PRS (n=1581) aged 15-29 was measured using the YWI, which examines five wellbeing dimensions: educational attainment, health, housing, active education or employment, and access to information. Scores for each of the five dimensions are scaled to [0, 1], and YWI is their arithmetic mean. The data enable us to look at the YWI by gender, by camp residence, and by narrower age bands to detect any generational differences within youth. Findings are reported using sampling weights for representativeness. FINDINGS: 4 years after displacement (2011-2015), PRS youth showed lower levels of wellbeing (YWI=0·56, 95% CI 0·55-0·57) than PRL youth (YWI=0·65, 95% CI 0·64-0·67). Although money-metric poverty was significantly higher inside than outside camps for both PRL youth (inside camps, 75·00%, 95% CI 71·55-78·15; outside camps, 61·98%, 55·26-68·27) and PRS youth (inside camps, 93·89%, 90·56-96·1; ; outside camps, 88·72%, 85·35-91·39), there was no such disparity in the YWI for PRL youth (inside camps, YWI=0·65, 95% CI 0·63-0·66; outside camps, 0·66, 0·62-0·69) or PRS youth (inside camps, 0·55, 0·54-0·56; outside camps, 0·57, 0·54-0·59). Young male refugees had significantly higher YWI (PRL, 0·66, 95% CI 0·65-0·68; PRS, 0·57, 0·56-0·59) than young female refugees (PRL, 0·64, 0·62-0·66; PRS, 0·55, 0·53-0·56). Young female PRL and PRS scored significantly higher for education (PRL, YWI=0·60; PRS, 0·61) than young male refugees from these populations (PRL, 0·48; PRS, 0·47), but significantly lower on active education or employment (PRL, 0·45; PRS, 0·18) than the young male refugees (PRL, 0·72; PRS, 0·47). Older PRS scored higher on the YWI education dimension (20-24 years age group, 0·61; 25-29 years age group, 0·50) than their PRL peers (20-24 years age group, 0·53; 25-29 years age group, 0·45), but the reverse was true for the 15-19 years age group (PRL, 0·60; PRS, 0·53). INTERPRETATION: Residence inside versus outside camps showed no significant differences in wellbeing based on the YWI, whereas money-metric poverty was higher inside camps, which suggests a need to move beyond assistance policies based on money-metric measures alone. The female edge in educational attainment is reversed when considering active education or employment, signalling the need for gender-specific strategies for the school-to-work transition for both PRL and PRS. The reversal of the educational edge of PRS over PRL in the 15-19 years age group is another concerning indicator of the cost of conflict for PRS that persists even four years after their displacement. FUNDING: UNRWA funded the 2015 survey data collection and the Economic Research Forum funded the development of the YWI.

Long-Term Effect on HbA1c in Poorly Controlled Diabetic Patients Following Nonmydriatic Retinal Image Review at the Time of Endocrinology Visit.

Background:Patient education demonstrates variable benefits on diabetes control.Introduction:To examine the effect of discussing nonmydriatic retinal imaging findings during a single endocrinology visit on HbA1c levels after 6, 12, and 60 months.Materials and Methods:Patients with HbA1c >8.0% and diabetic retinopathy were previously recruited for a prospective study looking at the change in HbA1c at 3 months between those assigned to a session of nonmydriatic imaging with discussion of retinal findings and those assigned to routine endocrinology evaluation alone. The patients were subsequently evaluated at 6, 12, and 60 months after the initial intervention.Results:Fifty-three of the 57 originally recruited intervention subjects (93%) and 48 of 54 subjects in the original control group (89%) were evaluated at 6 and 12 months and 44 patients in each group (75% and 81%, respectively) at 60 months. At 6 months, the intervention group maintained larger decreases in median HbA1c compared to control (-1.1 vs. -0.3, respectively, p = 0.002) with a trend persisting at 12 months (-0.6 vs. -0.2, respectively, p = 0.07). After 60 months, there was no significant difference in the median change in HbA1c between treatment and control groups (0.3 vs. 0.1, respectively, p = 0.54).Discussion:The short-term improvement in HbA1c resulting from discussion of retinal findings persists throughout the first year in this diabetic cohort, but its magnitude declines with time and becomes statistically insignificant at some point between 6 and 12 months.Conclusions:In patients with poorly controlled diabetes, retinal imaging review may help improve glycemic control but may require repetition periodically for benefit beyond 6 months.

Equity impacts of price policies to promote healthy behaviours.

Governments can use fiscal policies to regulate the prices and consumption of potentially unhealthy products. However, policies aimed at reducing consumption by increasing prices, for example by taxation, might impose an unfair financial burden on low-income households. We used data from household expenditure surveys to estimate patterns of expenditure on potentially unhealthy products by socioeconomic status, with a primary focus on low-income and middle-income countries. Price policies affect the consumption and expenditure of a larger number of high-income households than low-income households, and any resulting price increases tend to be financed disproportionately by high-income households. As a share of all household consumption, however, price increases are often a larger financial burden for low-income households than for high-income households, most consistently in the case of tobacco, depending on how much consumption decreases in response to increased prices. Large health benefits often accrue to individual low-income consumers because of their strong response to price changes. The potentially larger financial burden on low-income households created by taxation could be mitigated by a pro-poor use of the generated tax revenues.

The health, financial and distributional consequences of increases in the tobacco excise tax among smokers in Lebanon.

Tobacco use is a significant risk factor for the leading causes of death worldwide, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where tobacco-related deaths are also rising rapidly. Taxation is one of the most effective tobacco control measures, yet evidence on the distributional impact of tobacco taxation in low- and middle-income countries remains scant. This paper considers the financial and health effects, by socio-economic class, of increasing tobacco taxes in Lebanon, a middle-income country. An Almost Ideal Demand System is used to estimate price elasticities of demand for tobacco products. Extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA) methods are applied to quantify, across quintiles of socio-economic status, the health benefits gained, the additional tax revenues raised, and the net financial consequences for households from a 50% increase in the price of tobacco through excise taxes. We find that demand for tobacco is price inelastic with elasticities ranging from -0.32 for the poorest quintile to -0.22 for the richest quintile. The increase in tobacco tax is estimated to result in 65,000 (95% CI: 37,000-93,000) premature deaths averted, 25% of them in the poorest quintile, $300M ($256-340M) of additional tax revenues, 12% borne by the poorest quintile, $23M ($13-33M) of out-of-pocket spending on healthcare averted, 36% of which accrue to the poorest quintile, 9% to the richest. These savings would be associated with 23,000 (13,000-33,000) poverty cases averted (63% in the poorest quintile). Increasing tobacco taxes would lead to large financial and health benefits, and would be pro-poor in health gains, savings on healthcare, and poverty reduction.

Food insufficiency and food insecurity as risk factors for physical disability among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon: Evidence from an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Potential interactions between malnutrition and disability are increasingly recognized, and both are important global health issues. Causal effects working from nutrition to disability and from disability back to nutrition present an empirical challenge to measuring either of these effects. However, disability affects nutrition whatever the cause of disability, whereas nutrition is likelier to affect disease-related disability than war- or work-related disability. OBJECTIVE: This paper investigates the association of food insufficiency with the risk of physical disability. Data on disability by cause allow us to address the difficulty of reverse causality. METHODS: Multinomial logit regressions of disability by cause on food insufficiency are run using survey data from 2010 on 2575 Palestinian refugee households in Lebanon. Controls include household sociodemographic, health and economic characteristics. Regressions of food insufficiency on disability by cause are also run. RESULTS: Disability has a significant coefficient in regressions of food insufficiency, whatever the cause of disability; but in regressions of disability on food insufficiency, food insufficiency is significant only for disease-related disability (log odds of disease-related disability .78 higher, p = .008). The difference in the results by cause of disability is evidence of a significant association between food insufficiency and disease-related disability, net of any reverse effect from disability to food access. CONCLUSIONS: The association between disease-related disability and food insufficiency is statistically significant suggesting that even taking into account feedback from disability to nutrition, nutrition is an effective level of intervention to avert the poverty-disability trap resulting from the impoverishing effect of disability.

The relationship between relative deprivation and self-rated health among Palestinian women in refugee camps in Lebanon.

BACKGROUND: Relative deprivation (RD) has been advanced as a theory to explain the relationship between income inequality and health in high-income countries. In this study, we tested the theory in a low-income protracted refugee setting in a middle-income country. METHODS: Using data from the 2010 Socioeconomic Survey of Palestine Refugees in Lebanon, we examined the relationship between RD and health among a representative sample of Palestinian refugee women (N=1047). Data were gathered utilizing a household questionnaire with information on socio-demographics and an individual-level questionnaire with information on the health of each respondent. We examined self-rated health (SRH) as the main health measure but also checked the sensitivity of our results using self-reported chronic conditions. We used two measures for absolute SES: total household monthly expenditures on non-food goods and services and total household monthly expenditures on non-health goods and services. With refugee camp as a reference group, we measured a household's RD as a household's rank of absolute SES within the reference group, multiplied by the distance between its absolute SES and the average absolute SES of all households ranked above it. We investigated the robustness of the RD-SRH relationship using these two alternative measures of absolute SES. RESULTS: Our findings show that, controlling for absolute SES and other possible confounders, women report significantly poorer health when they live in households with a higher score on our RD measure (because of either lower relative rank or lower relative SES compared to households better off in the reference group which we take to be the refugee camp). While RD is always significant as a determinant of SRH under a variety of specifications, absolute SES is not consistently significant. These findings persist when we use self-reported chronic conditions as our measure of health instead of SRH, suggesting that the relationship between health and RD may be operating through a psychosocial mechanism. DISCUSSION: Our findings underscore the importance of examining RD under conditions of poverty and in diverse socio-cultural contexts. They also highlight that public health approaches should be concerned with reducing social inequalities in low-income settings in addition to alleviating poverty.

The effect of taxation on tobacco consumption and public revenues in Lebanon.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco consumption rates in Lebanon are among the highest worldwide. The country ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005. A law was passed in 2011 which regulates smoking in closed public spaces, bans advertising, and stipulates larger warnings. Despite international evidence confirming that increasing taxation on tobacco products lowers tobacco consumption, no such policy has yet been adopted: a cigarette pack costs on average US$1.50. To date no studies in Lebanon have addressed the welfare and public finance effects of increasing taxes on tobacco products. METHODS: Using the 2005 national survey of household living conditions, we estimate an almost ideal demand system to generate price elasticities of demand for tobacco. Using estimated elasticities and a conservative scenario for expected smuggling, we simulate the consumption and tax revenue effects of a change in the price of tobacco under various tax schemes. RESULTS: Increasing taxes on all tobacco products so as to double the price of imported cigarettes would lower their consumption by 7% and consumption of domestically produced cigarettes by over 90%. Young adults (ages 15-30) are more sensitive: consumption would drop by 9% for imported cigarettes and by 100% for domestic cigarettes. Government revenues would increase by approximately 52%. CONCLUSIONS: The estimated elasticities indicate that an increase in taxes on all tobacco products would lead to a reduction in consumption and an increase in government revenue. Evidence from Lebanon on the effectiveness of increased taxation may help initiate national debate on the need to raise taxes.

The economics of tobacco in Lebanon: an estimation of the social costs of tobacco consumption.

OBJECTIVES: Assess the socioeconomic costs of smoking in Lebanon and understand the tobacco market and identify the winners and losers from the Lebanese tobacco trade. METHODS: We take a close look at the market for tobacco and related markets to identify the main stakeholders and estimate the direct costs and benefits of tobacco. We also estimate lower bounds for the costs of tobacco, in terms of lost productivity, the cost of medical treatment, lost production due to premature death, and environmental damage. The paucity of data means our cost estimates are conservative lower bounds and we explicitly list the effects that we are unable to include. RESULTS: We identify the main actors in the tobacco trade: the Régie (the state-owned monopoly which regulates the tobacco trade), tobacco farmers, international tobacco companies, local distributors, retailers, consumers, and advertising firms. We identify as proximate actors the Ministries of Finance and Health, employers, and patients of smoking-related illnesses. In 2008, tobacco trade in Lebanon led to a total social cost of $326.7 million (1.1% of GDP). CONCLUSION: Low price tags on imported cigarettes not only increase smoking prevalence, but they also result in a net economic loss. Lebanese policymakers should consider the overall deficit from tobacco trade and implement the guidelines presented in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to at once increase government revenue and reduce government outlays, and save the labor market and the environment substantial costs.

Nonmydriatic retinal image review at time of endocrinology visit results in short-term HbA1c reduction in poorly controlled patients with diabetic retinopathy.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of discussing retinal findings following nonmydriatic retinal imaging during an endocrinology visit on subsequent HbA1c in poorly controlled diabetic patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: During a visit to an endocrinologist, patients with DR and documented HbA1c ≥ 8.0% within the preceding month were assigned to either addition of nonmydriatic imaging and discussion of retinal findings or standard endocrinology evaluation alone. Ophthalmology care was otherwise the same in both groups. Changes in HbA1c were evaluated 3 months later. RESULTS: One hundred thirteen (94%) of the original 120 subjects completed the study. The mean HbA1c change in the retinal imaging group was a decline of 1.35%, whereas the control group had a 0.26% increase. Controlling for gender, age, duration of diabetes, presence of hypertension, and use of insulin, the difference between groups was significant (p<0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: Nonmydriatic imaging and discussion of retinal findings during an endocrinologist visit may contribute, at least in the short term, to improved glycemic control in patients with DR and elevated HbA1c.

Health equity in Lebanon: a microeconomic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The health sector in Lebanon suffers from high levels of spending and is acknowledged to be a source of fiscal waste. Lebanon initiated a series of health sector reforms which aim at containing the fiscal waste caused by high and inefficient public health expenditures. Yet these reforms do not address the issues of health equity in use and coverage of healthcare services, which appear to be acute. This paper takes a closer look at the micro-level inequities in the use of healthcare, in access, in ability to pay, and in some health outcomes. METHODS: We use data from the 2004/2005 Multi Purpose Survey of Households in Lebanon to conduct health equity analysis, including equity in need, access and outcomes. We briefly describe the data and explain some of its limitations. We examine, in turn, and using standardization techniques, the equity in health care utilization, the impact of catastrophic health payments on household wellbeing, the effect of health payment on household impoverishment, the equity implications of existing health financing methods, and health characteristics by geographical region. RESULTS: We find that the incidence of disability decreases steadily across expenditure quintiles, whereas the incidence of chronic disease shows the opposite pattern, which may be an indication of better diagnostics for higher quintiles. The presence of any health-related expenditure is regressive while the magnitude of out-of-pocket expenditures on health is progressive. Spending on health is found to be "normal" and income-elastic. Catastrophic health payments are likelier among disadvantaged groups (in terms of income, geography and gender). However, the cash amounts of catastrophic payments are progressive. Poverty is associated with lower insurance coverage for both private and public insurance. While the insured seem to spend an average of almost LL93,000 ($62) on health a year in excess of the uninsured, they devote a smaller proportion of their expenditures to health. CONCLUSIONS: The lowest quintiles of expenditures per adult have less of an ability to pay out-of-pocket for healthcare, and yet incur healthcare expenditures more often than the wealthy. They have lower rates of insurance coverage, causing them to spend a larger proportion of their expenditures on health, and further confirming our results on the vulnerability of the bottom quintiles.

Relative deprivation and mortality in South Africa.

This paper tests the relative income hypothesis by considering the relationship between mortality, income and relative deprivation in South Africa using individual-level data on income and five measures of relative deprivation each with a different reference group. We find that income tends to be protective of, and relative deprivation detrimental to health, but the latter often gives a better account of mortality than does income alone. For some population groups the fit is improved in specifications which include both income and relative deprivation. Overall, there seems to be solid evidence in support of the relative income hypothesis, particularly for the more economically disadvantaged population groups. Relative deprivation is especially significant when age is the reference group, suggesting that the comparison of socio-economic standing that has an impact on health tends to happen within cohorts. The results are robust to splitting the sample into urban/rural subsamples and to looking at the incidence of illness as the health outcome rather than mortality. While little is known about the mechanisms underlying the effect of relative deprivation on health and mortality, the consistent evidence in favor of age as a reference group, particularly in a context like South Africa's suggests that intra-cohort comparisons should be an avenue for more in depth investigation.