Social protection and child health: challenges in measuring the impact of public investment in health
Abstract
This article explores the relationship between public health investment and population health improvement, with a particular focus on reducing mortality in children under five (U5MR). Although intuition suggests that increased investment in hospitals, medications, and healthcare personnel should improve population health, empirically demonstrating this relationship remains complex and controversial. From a conceptual perspective, this paper addresses the relevance and challenges of measuring health improvements per monetary unit invested, with critical implications for public policy design. The article is structured into five sections: the first examines concepts regarding the role and necessity of public investment in health and social protection; the second focuses on recent data on global access to social protection and health insurance for children; the third analyzes limitations in measuring the impact of public investment on child mortality; the fourth describes the distribution of public investment in social protection and public health; and the fifth assesses the impact of insurance coverage and public health investment on child health. Finally, the article outlines challenges and directions for future research in this area.
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Otros documentos consultados
Save the Children (2021a). Fair Shares? Fiscal equity for children in Kenya. https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/fair-shares-fiscal-equity-children-kenya/
Save the Children (2021b). GRID, Save the Children’s Child Inequality Tracker.
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