Using data envelopment analysis to measure the extent of technical efficiency of public health centres in Ghana

This study uses the DEA method, to calculate the technical efficiency of 89 randomly sampled health centers in Ghana. The aim was to determine the degree of efficiency of health centers and recommend performance targets for the inefficient facilities.The findings showed that 65% of health centers were technically inefficient and so were using resources that they did not actually need.The results broadly point to grave inefficiency in the health care delivery system of public health centers and that significant amounts of resources could be saved if measures were put in place to curb the waste.A recent critical review of the Health Sector Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa points to the fact that besides the issue of ever diminishing financial inflows to the health sector, poor quality of health care, mainly occasioned by a variety of inefficiencies at all levels of health care delivery is one of the most important concerns which has precipitated a number of reform initiatives and strategies in nearly all the developing countries [1]There is also a growing concern among policy makers and planners that health services are not being delivered with utmost efficiency. In 2002, government in about 65% of the 46 countries in the WHO Africa Region spent less than US$ 10 per capita per year [2]. Evidence from the Africa Region indicates that the problem of scarcity of resources is also compounded with technical inefficiency that leads to wastage of the available meager resources [2]. In 2006, cognizant of the technical inefficiency plaguing the African health systems, Ministers of Health of the African Union Member States undertook to institutionalize efficiency monitoring within the national health information systems [3].Coupled with this recognition, there is a realization among policy makers that increased funding alone will not and cannot solve the problem. From a strict sustainability perspective, it can be argued that most African countries are approaching or have already