Abstract

The central issue in health policy is how the health sector can contribute to a country’s economic development and poverty reduction. There is a growing consensus that health is not merely a medical issue, but a matter of development in general. Thus, it is essential to understand the contribution the health sector makes to economic development and poverty reduction in order to more clearly justify the financial resources needed by the health sector. This paper’s objective is to assess health system performance within the framework of health production functions from the perspective of equity and efficiency.