Health system productivity in sub-Saharan Africa: tuberculosis control in high burden countries

BACKGROUND: Sixteen of the 30 countries with a high tuberculosis (TB) burden are in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over 25% of TB deaths occur in the Africa region. This study aims to estimate the productivity changes of TB programs in 16 SSA countries where TB is endemic. METHODS: We used Hicks-Moorsteen index to compute and decompose Total factor productivity (TFP), and the β-convergence and σ-convergence tests to check for convergence patterns among SSA countries. RESULTS: We found that technological change has been the main driver of the TFP growth, and that increasing technical efficiency may be the first objective in efforts to improve TFP of TB programs. Moreover, the convergence tests reveal significant homogeneity in terms of TFP change between SSA countries studied. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that improving technical efficiency of TB programs mainly calls for better resource allocation, capacity building in governance and management of programs, improved training of the health providers and stronger prevention policies. Policymakers must design models for integration of TB treatment under the universal health insurance schemes.