Germaneness of human capital variables to health indicators in Nigeria.
Keywords:
Human Capital, Health Outcomes, Health Inequality, SDGs and Economic DevelopmentAbstract
Nigeria is a country rich in resources, though heavily relying on revenue from crude oil exports. To experience increased productivity, economic growth and improved welfare for its citizenry, it is imperative for such economy to reinvest revenue in infrastructural development and most importantly in human capital especially with the rising price of crude oil in the global market. Recent budgetary allocations to education, health and training according to literature, is supposed to have a direct bearing on the productivity of citizens. Health outcomes in the country have shown that recent spending in public and private spending does not impact health and wellbeing of citizens. Guided by three equations based on the objectives, using data set from 1996 to 2023, the study determined the long run effect of human capital development on life expectancy, maternal mortality and under-five mortality using the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag Model and unit root testing, co-integration. The result showed that long-term investments in healthcare infrastructure have high prospects of reducing mortality rates, particularly under-five mortality rate. These further stresses the importance of sustained investments in the healthcare sector to record commendable progress in public health outcomes. The study recommended the promotion of policies that mitigate the financial burden on families by supporting affordable healthcare services, which inversely impacts maternal mortality rates and other health indicators in the country.Downloads
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