HEALTH OUTCOMES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ECOWAS NATIONS
EUGENE IHEANACHO *
Department of Economics, Abia State University, P.M.B. 2000, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.
NDUKWE ORJI DIBIA
Department of Economics, Abia State University, P.M.B. 2000, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.
CHUKS NWAOGWUGWU
Department of Accounting, Abia State University, P.M.B. 2000, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
There are challenges faced by the Economic Community of West of Africa States (ECOWAS)with respect to the state of health due to inconsistent in health promotion needed for sustainable development. The paper investigated the effects of health outcomes on sustainable development in 15 ECOWAS countries using panel data spanning from 2000 to 2019. The study employed descriptive statistics and panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique to ascertain both the Short-run and Long-run effects. The findings from the long term ARDL revealed that a unit rise in Fertility Rate (FER) and under5-mortality bring about 0.061% and 0.0005% reduction in Human Development Index (HDI). Also, a unit rise in FER and Life expectancy rates lead to 9.827% and 0.642% decrease in economic growth. At the same time, the short-run ARDL shows that LifeExpectancy Rate (LER) has a positive and significant effect on Real Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (RGDPC). In addition, there is a strong correlation between economic growth and life expectancy; a higher fertility rate tends to jeopardize Human Development Index. Based on the findings, the study, among the policy implications are: drastic efforts by ECOWAS leaders to improve Real Gross Domestic Product Per Capita for a better Human Development Index, overall wellbeing, and social development of masses; there is the need to re-strategise for effective child health interventions in the region.
Keywords: Human development index, life expectancy rate, mortality rate, real gross domestic product per capita, fertility rate