THE IMPACT OF POVERTY ON HUMAN HEALTH: A PANEL DATA ANALYSIS

Abstract

The experience of living in poverty affects social life in different ways. Poverty upsets the health status of individuals. Health is a major cornerstone of economic development on a macro level, while health is essential to ensure an economically productive life at the micro-level. This study aims to analyze the impacts of poverty, income, and education on human health for South Asia over 1980-2017 by using pooled OLS and fixed effects approach. To measure the status of health, life expectancy and infant mortality are taken as proxy indicators. Poverty is measured by headcount ratio and health facilities are measured by the role of physicians and immunization. The results concluded that poverty adversely affects the status of human health while health facilities play a vital role in the provision of better health. It is recommended that the government of these countries formulate such policies to reduce poverty and improve health status.