Dataset Information

Assessing levels and trends of child health inequality in 88 developing countries: from 2000 to 2014.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Reducing child mortality was one of the Millennium Development Goals. In the current Sustainable Development Goals era, achieving equity is prioritized as a major aim.

Objective

This study aims to provide a comprehensive and updated picture of inequalities in child health intervention coverage and child health outcomes by wealth status, as well as their trends between 2000 and 2014.

Methods

Using data from Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, we adopted three measures of inequality, including one absolute inequality indicator and two relative inequality indicators, to estimate the level and trends of inequalities in three child health outcome variables and 17 intervention coverages in 88 developing countries.

Results

While improvements in child health outcomes and coverage of interventions have been observed between 2000 and 2014, large inequalities remain. There was a high level of variation between countries' progress toward reducing child health inequalities, with some countries significantly improving, some deteriorating, and some remaining statistically unchanged. Among child health interventions, the least equitable one was access to improved sanitation (The absolute difference in coverages between the richest quintile and the poorest quintile reached 49.5% [42.7, 56.2]), followed by access to improved water (34.1% [29.5, 38.6]), and skilled birth attendant (SBA) (34.1% [28.8, 39.4]). The most equitable intervention coverage was insecticide-treated bed net for children (1.0% [-3.9, 5.9]), followed by oral rehydration therapy for diarrhea ((8.0% [5.2, 10.8]), and vitamin A supplement (8.4% [5.1, 11.7]). These findings were robust to various inequality measurements.

Conclusions

Although child health outcomes and coverage of interventions have improved largely over the study period for almost all wealth quintiles, insufficient progress was made in reducing child health inequalities between the poorest and richest wealth quintiles. Future efforts should focus on reaching the poorest children by increasing investments toward expanding the coverage of interventions in resource-limited settings.

SUBMITTER: Li Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5727456 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Assessing levels and trends of child health inequality in 88 developing countries: from 2000 to 2014.

Li Zhihui Z Li Mingqiang M Subramanian S V SV Lu Chunling C

Global health action 20170101 1

<h4>Background</h4>Reducing child mortality was one of the Millennium Development Goals. In the current Sustainable Development Goals era, achieving equity is prioritized as a major aim.<h4>Objective</h4>This study aims to provide a comprehensive and updated picture of inequalities in child health intervention coverage and child health outcomes by wealth status, as well as their trends between 2000 and 2014.<h4>Methods</h4>Using data from Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster ...[more]

PMID: 29228888

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Project description:BackgroundThe majority of Countdown countries did not reach the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 4) on reducing child mortality, despite the fact that donor funding to the health sector has drastically increased. When tracking aid invested in child survival, previous studies have exclusively focused on aid targeting reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH). We take a multi-sectoral approach and extend the estimation to the four sectors that determine child survival: health (RMNCH and non-RMNCH), education, water and sanitation, and food and humanitarian assistance (Food/HA).Methods and findingsUsing donor reported data, obtained mainly from the OECD Creditor Reporting System and Development Assistance Committee, we tracked the level and trends of aid (in grants or loans) disbursed to each of the four sectors at the global, regional, and country levels. We performed detailed analyses on missing data and conducted imputation with various methods. To identify aid projects for RMNCH, we developed an identification strategy that combined keyword searches and manual coding. To quantify aid for RMNCH in projects with multiple purposes, we adopted an integrated approach and produced the lower and upper bounds of estimates for RMNCH, so as to avoid making assumptions or using weak evidence for allocation. We checked the sensitivity of trends to the estimation methods and compared our estimates to that produced by other studies. Our study yielded time-series and recipient-specific annual estimates of aid disbursed to each sector, as well as their lower- and upper-bounds in 134 countries between 2000 and 2014, with a specific focus on Countdown countries. We found that the upper-bound estimates of total aid disbursed to the four sectors in 134 countries rose from US$ 22.62 billion in 2000 to US$ 59.29 billion in 2014, with the increase occurring in all income groups and regions with sub-Saharan Africa receiving the largest sum. Aid to RMNCH has experienced the fastest growth (12.4%), followed by aid to Food/HA (9.4%), education (5.1%), and water and sanitation (5.0%). With the exception of RMNCH, the average per capita aid disbursed to each sector in the 74 Countdown countries was smaller than in non-Countdown countries. While countries with a large number of child deaths tend to receive the largest amount of disbursements, non-Countdown countries with small populations usually received the highest level of per capita aid for child survival among all 134 countries. Compared to other Countdown countries, those that met MDG 4 with a high reliance on health aid received much higher per capita aid across all sectors. These findings are robust to estimation methods.ConclusionsThe study suggests that to improve child survival, better targeted investments should be made in the four sectors, and aid to non-health sectors could be a possible contributor to child mortality reduction. We recommend that future studies on tracking aid for child survival go beyond the health sector and include other sectors that directly affect child survival. Investigation should also be made about the link between aid to each of the four sectors and child mortality reduction.

Dataset Information

Assessing levels and trends of child health inequality in 88 developing countries: from 2000 to 2014.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Assessing levels and trends of child health inequality in 88 developing countries: from 2000 to 2014.

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