Explaining Health Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: History, Technology, and Incentives for Performance
Melina Platas Izama, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Stanford University
Over the past 50 years, child mortality has fallen everywhere from China to Chad. Despite civil wars, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and economic stagnation, child mortality worldwide has been on a steady decline. Nevertheless, improvements in many health outcomes have been uneven. What explains the secular trend in health improvements over time, particularly with regard to child health? Why have some countries performed relatively better than others in improving the health of their populations? I seek to explain both why we see the overall trend of improving health across the world, despite continued wide variation in income per capita, regime type, and governance, as well as why we observe periods of better-than-expected health performance in some countries and regions at different points in time. To begin addressing these two puzzles, I examine variation in health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on three distinct but overlapping explanatory variables: history (namely, colonial legacies), medical and sanitation technologies, and performance-based incentives for health workers and facilities.
Melina Platas is a third-year graduate student studying comparative politics, international relations, and quantitative methods. Her interests include democracy and development, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Her research examines the political, economic and social determinants of health outcomes in the developing world. Research experience in Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, and Mexico.