an Eldis Resource
The impact of the AIDS pandemic on health services in Africa: evidence from demographic and health surveys
AIDS prevalence erodes health services
Authors:
A. Case; C. Paxson
Publisher:
National Bureau of Economic Research, USA, 2009
This paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, documents the impact of the AIDS crisis on non-AIDS related health services in 14 sub-Saharan African countries. The authors, using multiple waves of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for each country, examine antenatal care, birth deliveries, and rates of immunisation for children born between 1988 and 2005.
The authors find deterioration in nearly all of the above dimensions of health care over this period. Using data collected on HIV prevalence in the most recent DHS survey for each country, the authors find that erosion of health services is highly correlated with increases in AIDS prevalence. Consequently, regions of countries that have light AIDS burdens have witnessed small or no declines in health care, using the measures noted above, while those regions currently shouldering the heaviest burdens have seen the largest erosion in treatment for pregnant women and children. Finally, the authors estimate the beginning of the divergence in health services between high and low HIV regions to the mid-1990s.
