The development of healthcare expenditures in Sudan: 2000–2011, Yassir Saeed
Yassir Abbas Saeed, Ahfad University for Women, Sudan
Purpose: This study attempts to examine trends, size, and composition of health expenditures in Sudan during 2000–2011 using simple descriptive and analytical approaches. Healthcare expenditures in Sudan are analysed for the years 2000 to 2011 using six key indicators.
Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted simple descriptive and analytical approaches using secondary data. In addition to the reviewed literature, statistical records of the World Health Organization (WHO) were used to collect data. However, in the absence of other sources of data, WHO health expenditures data can provide a useful starting point for analysing the way in which health expenditures and health systems are developing.
Findings: The main findings revealed a slight increase in public health spending in Sudan between 2000–2011; a significant shift toward private expenditures, which appears increasingly to be substituting rather than supplementing public expenditures; and a constant or a very small increase in total and public health spending per GDP despite growth in GDP and national income. Many possible results for this situation are put forward; the most important one is the deterioration of the health sector in Sudan, affecting the availability, utilisation and quality of health services.
Keywords: Healthcare expenditure, Sudan, Public health
