Background: There is considerable interest in exploring the potential of social health insurance in Africa where a number of countries are currently experimenting with different approaches. Since these schemes have been introduced recently and are continuously evolving, it is important to...

Background: Malnutrition is a prevalent public health concern in Ghana. While studies have identified factors that influence child malnutrition and related inequalities in Ghana, very little efforts have been made to decompose these inequalities across various household characteristics. This...

Background: Critical evaluation of the cost-effectiveness and clinical effectiveness of continuity of midwifery care models for women experiencing complex pregnancy is an important consideration in the review and reform of maternity services. Most studies either focus on women who experience...

Background: In April 2016, Burkina Faso introduced a free health care policy for women. Instead of reimbursing health facilities, as many sub-Saharan countries do, the government paid them prospectively for covered services to avoid reimbursement delays, which are cited as a reason for the...

This study evaluates the impact of Sierra Leone’s 2010 Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI). It uses two nationally representative surveys to identify the impact of the policy on utilisation of maternal care services by pregnant women and recent mothers as well as the impact on curative health...

This paper seeks to identify the determinants of the choice of treatment of pregnant women in Cameroon. Theoretically, the methodology is based on a discrete choice model with random utility. Empirically, the econometric specification is a Nested Multinomial Logit Model. The data used comes from...

Objectives: To estimate the cost savings and health benefits in the UK NHS that could be achieved if human milk usage in the NICU was increased. Methods: A systematic review established the disease areas with the strong sources of evidence of the short, medium and long-term benefits of human...

Background: Early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding practices have been argued to be one of the important ways of ensuring child health. Unfortunately, owing to modernization, most nursing mothers fail to adhere to such practices. This is believed to be a factor...

The paper investigates the effect of adequate use of prenatal care on birth weight in Kenya using data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2008 - 2009 together with additional administrative data. Both a single-level model and a multi-level model are estimated. The estimation...

Background: To promote skilled attendance at births and reduce maternal deaths, the government of Ghana introduced the free maternal care policy under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2008. The objective is to eliminate financial barriers associated with the use of services. But...