HIV/Aids, Infant Mortality and Economic Growth: A Systematic Assessment of Their Causal Relationship in Nigeria

Nigeria has the second largest HIV/AIDS burden in the world and this has been closely associated with adverse economic effects and in turn HIV/AIDS has hindered economic growth in the past decades. In this study, the Vector Error Correction Model was employed to investigate the relationship among HIV/AIDS, infant mortality and economic growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1980-2015. Mixed results were recorded as on one hand, HIV/AIDS impacts positively on infant mortality through Mother-To-Child-Transmission while on the other hand, economic growth was found to be positively correlated with HIV/AIDS. This is because, in most countries, including Nigeria, relatively rich and better educated men and women have higher rates of partner change. We therefore recommends that to achieve the desirable objective of sustainable economic growth, the health sector should be given a larger budgetary allocation and support as the current government expenditure on health is not making any significant impact.