Health insurance and child mortality in rural Burkina Faso

Background Micro health insurance schemes have been implemented across developing countries as a means of facilitating access to modern medical care, with the ultimate aim of improving health. This effect, however, has not been explored sufficiently. Objective We investigated the effect of enrolment into community-based health insurance on mortality in children under 5 years of age in a health and demographic surveillance system in Nouna, Burkina Faso. Design We analysed the effect of health insurance enrolment on child mortality with a Cox regression model. We adjusted for variables that we found to be related to the enrolment in health insurance in a preceding analysis. Results Based on the analysis of 33,500 children, the risk of mortality was 46% lower in children enrolled in health insurance as compared to the non-enrolled children (HR=0.54, 95% CI 0.43-0.68) after adjustment for possible confounders. We identified socioeconomic status, father's education, distance to the health facility, year of birth, and insurance status of the mother at time of birth as the major determinants of health insurance enrolment. Conclusions The strong effect of health insurance enrolment on child mortality may be explained by increased utilisation of health services by enrolled children; however, other non-observed factors cannot be excluded. Because malaria is a main cause of death in the study area, early consultation of health services in case of infection could prevent many deaths. Concerning the magnitude of the effect, implementation of health insurance could be a major driving factor of reduction in child mortality in the developing world.