Researcher at North-West University Targets COVID-19 (Effect of Health Insurance Uptake on Hesitancy toward COVID-19 Vaccines in Nigeria: A Recursive Bivariate Probit and Decomposition Estimation): Coronavirus – COVID-19

2023 FEB 22 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Daily -- Researchers detail new data in COVID-19. According to news reporting out of Mmabatho, South Africa, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Moral hazard remains one of the major challenges of health insurance administration.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from North-West University: “This paper recursively analyzed the effect of health insurance on the willingness to take COVID-19 vaccines in Nigeria. The data comprised 1892 unvaccinated respondents in the 2021/2022 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS). The data were analyzed with Coban’s recursive probit regression and decomposition approaches. The results revealed that 5.87% were health insured, and 7.93% were willing to take COVID-19 vaccines. Health insurance uptake significantly increased (p < 0.05) with an adult being the decision-maker on vaccination, requiring family planning, and urban residence, while it reduced with loss of jobs and residence in the southeast and southwest zones. In addition, health insurance significantly (p < 0.01) increased the willingness to take COVID-19 vaccines, along with each adult, all adults, and households’ heads being the major vaccination decision-makers, loss of jobs, and support for making COVID-19 vaccines compulsory.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The average treatment effects (ATEs) and average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) of health insurance were significant (p < 0.01), with positive impacts on willingness to be vaccinated. It was concluded that policy reforms to promote access to health insurance would enhance COVID-19 vaccination in Nigeria. In addition, hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines can be reduced by targeting adults and household heads with adequate information, while health insurance uptake should target southern states and rural areas.”

For more information on this research see: Effect of Health Insurance Uptake on Hesitancy toward COVID-19 Vaccines in Nigeria: A Recursive Bivariate Probit and Decomposition Estimation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023,20(3). (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). The publisher for International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032566.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Abayomi Samuel Oyekale, Department of Agricultural Economic and Extension, North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)