The effects of prevention and public health expenditure on measles immunization rates in Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries

Abstract

Globalization has brought health concerns to the forefront. Moreover, governments, policymakers, and health officials are paying more attention to these health concerns. With the increased cross-national interaction, diseases have more pathways to spread than ever. As countries attempt to ensure access to care and control health expenditure, monitoring and improving the quality of health care is a pressing issue. This paper uses linear regressions to analyze the relationship between prevention and public health expenditure and the rate of measles immunizations in member countries of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). There is a weak negative relationship between the expenditure and rates of measles immunizations for both private and public expenditure data, suggesting that the higher the expenditure the lower the rates of measles immunizations. Several possible reasons for this phenomenon is discussed in conjunction with the role of health educators as it relates to the use of theory based interventions to improve rates of measles immunizations.