Private Healthcare Interventions, Maternal and Infant Mortality Nexus: A Toda-Yamamoto Approach

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of private healthcare interventions on maternal and infant mortality in Nigeria for the period 1990 to 2024. Private healthcare expenditure as aggregated is the independent variable while maternal mortality ratio and infant mortality ratio are the two dependent variables. Data are analyzed using the Toda-Yamamoto causality approach. The analysis reveals that private healthcare interventions have no statistically significant causal relationship with maternal mortality but it has statistically significant causal relationship with infant mortality in Nigeria. The conclusion emanating from the study is that while domestic interventions, particularly those led by the private sector have contributed meaningfully to reducing infant mortality, they have not yet had significant effects on maternal mortality in Nigeria. It is recommended that the Nigerian government should improve in their partnership with the private sector to increase investment in maternal healthcare services, and that the prevailing interventions by the private sector stakeholders towards reducing infant mortality in Nigeria should be sustained through effective monitoring and evaluation system.