Health Care Expenditure in Nigeria: Does the Level of Government Spending Really Matter?

The study seeks to examine the relation ship between levels of government health care expenditure and health status in Nigeria. The paper utilized several estimation techniques (Cobb–Douglas production function, Semi-logarithmic function, exponential and semi-logarithmic function) using data from 1980-2003. The result of the research reveal that life expectancy and literacy rate were negatively correlated with health care expenditure both in the short and long-run, income elasticity of health care expenditure was below low unity both in the short-run and long-run. The study concluded that health is a necessary good in Nigeria. In other to improve the health status of the population the Government needs to increase funding for health, reduce the inequality in the budgetary distribution of health expenditure and fast track the implementation of the Primary Health Care bill.