Impact of Migrant Remittances on Health and Education Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Amakom, Uzochukwu; Iheoma, Chukwunonso Gerald

doi:10.9790/0837-19813344

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…These findings aligned with the findings of Amakom and Iheoma. [21] In their study, an increase in remittance was responsible for the increase in healthcare utilisation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Impact of remittances on healthcare utilisation and expenditure in developing countries: a systematic review

Nathaniel¹

2020

Rwanda Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences

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Background The poor and low-income earners used remittances to access healthcare services because most of them are not covered by private or government health insurance schemes.The money sent by migrant workers from abroad to their family members, relatives and friends serves as social protection, especially in developing countries where there are no standardised social protection programmes. Objective This review assesses the impact of remittances on healthcare utilisation and expenditure in developing countries. Methods A systematic search for relevant literature was conducted online for studies published between 2002 and 2018. Results The inclusion criteria of the study were met by 7 out of the 135 studies searched electronically. The studies conducted in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, found that remittances contributed toincreased healthcare access, utilisation and expenditures. However, the degrees of these impacts were limited among the studies except in Armenia, where remittances significantly increased healthcare utilisation. Conclusion Although remittances can not serve as an alternative to formal healthcare insurance schemes, they can serve as a short-term measure in healthcare utilisation in developing countries. It is the responsibility of governments at all levels to formulate health policies that will embrace universal healthcare coverage for all citizens.

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“…These findings aligned with the findings of Amakom and Iheoma. [21] In their study, an increase in remittance was responsible for the increase in healthcare utilisation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Impact of remittances on healthcare utilisation and expenditure in developing countries: a systematic review

Nathaniel¹

2020

Rwanda Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences

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“…Personal remittances only accounted for 3.2% of Burkina Faso's GDP [28]. SSA data show that remittance per capita improves various health outcomes [29,30]. Further work is needed however, to determine if remittance is speci cally associated with improved health outcomes for pregnant women and their newborns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Household Costs Associated With Seeking Malaria Treatment During Pregnancy: Evidence From Burkina Faso and The Gambia

Duval

Scott

Traoré

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract Background: Malaria in pregnancy remains a major health threat in sub-Saharan Africa to both expectant mothers and their unborn children. To date, there have been very few studies focused on the costs associated with seeking treatment for malaria during pregnancy. Methods . A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in Burkina Faso and The Gambia to estimate the direct (medical and non-medical) and indirect costs associated with outpatient consultations (OP) and inpatient admissions (IP). In total, 220 pregnant women in Burkina Faso and 263 pregnant women in The Gambia were interviewed about their treatment seeking decisions, expenditure, time use and financial support associated with each malaria episode . Results : In Burkina Faso 6.7% sought treatment elsewhere before their OP visits, and 32.9% before their IP visits. This compares to 1.3% for OP and 24.1% for IP in The Gambia. Once at the facility, the average direct costs (out of pocket) were 3.91US$ for an OP visit and 15.38US$ of an IP visit in Burkina Faso, and 2.75US$ for an OP visit and 9.19US$ for an IP visit in The Gambia. Inpatient direct costs were driven by drug costs (9.27US$) and transportation costs (2.72US$) in Burkina Faso and drug costs (3.44 US$) and food costs (3.44 US$) in The Gambia. Indirect costs of IP visits, valued as the opportunity cost of time lost due to the illness, were estimated at 11.85US$ in Burkina Faso and 4.07US$ in The Gambia. The difference across the two countries was mainly due to the longer time of hospitalization in Burkina Faso compared to The Gambia. In The Gambia, the vast majority of pregnant women reported receiving financial support from family members living abroad, most commonly siblings (65%). Conclusions: To reach successful global malaria control, there is an urgent need to understand the barriers pregnant women face when seeking prevention and treatment for malaria at health facilities. Our findings suggest that direct and indirect costs, both medical and non-medical, are likely to affect access to health care.

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“…There is as well an asociation between receiving remittances and the decrease of fertility rates (27,34,74) and child mortality (7,12,34,49). Regarding the general health condition, receiving remittances decreases the probability of suffering from a chronic or sudden disease (36) and improves health outcomes, including the children's (7,8,75).…”

Section: Effect Of Transfers On Health Conditions Of the Household Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In reference to health expenditure, receiving remittances increases medication expenditure (29,76), hospitalization (29), medical visits and laboratoy services (36), preventive health activities (33) and, in general, the total health expenditure of households (8,28,33,35,70,72,77,78,79,80,81).…”

Section: Effect Of Transfers On Health Conditions Of the Household Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, it can negatively affect the health of children since they receive less preventive health care (3) or it constitutes a stressful situation that affects psychological wellbeing (4,5,6). It could also present positive effects such as the increase of the expenditure and demand of health services as a result of the reception of remittances (7,8,9), the improvement of child nutrition indicators (10,11) and the decrease of child mortality (12).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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International Migration and Health in the Countries of Origin. The Effect on Households with Migrants and/or Recipients of Remittances, and on Returned Migrants. A Systematic Review

Cuevas¹,

Paredes²,

Zarama³

et al. 2019

RGYPS

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This work represents a systematic literature review that studies the effect of international migration on the health of households in the countries of origin and of returned migrants. The effect is due to: 1) remittances, 2) transfer of ideas, habits and behavioral norms, and 3) the previous migratory experience of returned migrants. Aspects of health that may be affected are fertility rate, general health condition, access to health services, mental health, life expectancy, anthropometric measures and nutrition, health expenditure, risk factors or health protectors. The search included articles and documents published between January 2000 and August 2017, written in English or Spanish, included in the databases Jstor, Proquest, IDEAS-RePec, Scielo, Google Scholar and PubMed. Based on quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the 85 selected articles, found positive and/or negative effects on health of children, adolescents, women, older adults and returned migrants. This systematic review offers a broad look of the effects of international migration on the health of the ones who stay, which results useful for policy makers and researchers. Not all findings are consistent and therefore, further research on the matter is necessary, considering qualitative approaches.

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Impact of Migrant Remittances on Health and Education Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 20 publications

References 8 publications

Impact of remittances on healthcare utilisation and expenditure in developing countries: a systematic review

Impact of remittances on healthcare utilisation and expenditure in developing countries: a systematic review

Household Costs Associated With Seeking Malaria Treatment During Pregnancy: Evidence From Burkina Faso and The Gambia

International Migration and Health in the Countries of Origin. The Effect on Households with Migrants and/or Recipients of Remittances, and on Returned Migrants. A Systematic Review

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