Abstract: Health efficiency is an important metric in any health delivery system since it guarantees that healthcare systems utilize the fewest resources feasible while delivering the highest quality of treatment and health outcomes. The study examined the technical efficiency of the health systems in the SADC region for the period 2010-2022. In order to identify the causes of the technical inefficiencies in the SADC countries’ health systems, the study broke down technical efficiency into pure technical and scale efficiency using the data envelopment analysis methodology. The study revealed that the average technical efficiency score was 55 percent, the average scale efficiency score was 81 percent, and the average pure technical score was 64 percent. This means that the region’s health system technical inefficiency stems mostly from management inefficiency. The conclusion is that, despite operating at the proper scale, most countries are being choked by inadequate resource management. This suggests that enhancing administrative skills and resource use are key to increasing health efficiency.

Keywords: Technical efficiency, Scale efficiency, Pure technical efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Health, Southern African Development Community

Pages: 238-247