Effect of Health Sector Grants on Availability and Quality of Healthcare in Kenya
Date
2021-07-16
Authors
Kiplagat, Isabella J.
. Musyoka, Philip K
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
This study seeks to investigate the effect of health sector grants on availability
and quality of primary healthcare in Kenya while focusing on the effect of Health
Sector Services Fund (HSSF), an innovative financing mechanism in which funds are
channeled directly from the national government to the lowest tiers of healthcare
providers in the country: the dispensaries, health centres and first level hospitals.
Specifically, we sought to establish the effect of HSSF on availability and quality of
healthcare in the country as measured by essential drug availability and provider
illness diagnostic accuracy, respectively. The study used data from the Health Service
Delivery Indicators and Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (SDI-PETs) conducted
in Kenya in 2012/13. The analysis was based on basic microeconomic theory - the
principal-agent theory. We appropriately used Ordinary Least Squares and probit
models in regressing availability and quality of healthcare measures on HSSF status
and a variety of control variables while controlling for endogeneity of HSSF receipt.
The regression results point to the importance of Health Sector Services Grants
(HSSF) amount and receipt in improving availability of essential drugs and quality of
care, respectively. Thus, direct and increased funding to lower level health facilities
enhances availability of individual essential medicines at the facility level. Similarly,
HSSF funding was important in influencing accuracy in illness diagnosis. Other factors
such as facility type and access to power influenced availability of essential drugs
while health worker age-group and health worker training as indicated by cadre type
were important determinants of provider process quality of healthcare.