Defense Expenditure and Its Impact on Health in the SAARC Countries

Abstract

Resources are scarce, but needs are unlimited. Therefore, the rational attempt must be designed in order to allocate optimally the limited resources to satisfy as maximum as possible our dire needs of life. This chapter attempts to examine the impact of military expenditure (percentage of GDP) on health issues of five selected SAARC countries by employing the panel data model from the period 1995 to 2015. The authors have found that as military expenditure increased, total health expenditure (percentage of GDP), public health expenditure (percentage of GDP), and private health expenditure (percentage of GDP) decreased. The present study has also witnessed an inverse relation between population growth and health expenditure. Military expenditure adversely affected the two health indicators, namely life expectancy at birth and infant mortality rate.