Publication

Mind the gap: equity and trends in coverage of maternal, newborn and child health services in 54 Countdown countries

Authored by:

Boerma, T., et al, for the Countdown 2008 Equity Analysis Group

Full Citation:

Boerma, T., et al, for the Countdown 2008 Equity Analysis Group 2008. Mind the gap: equity and trends in coverage of maternal, newborn and child health services in 54 Countdown countries. Lancet. 371(9620).

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Additional key concepts from this publication:

Vaccination is one of the most equitably distributed health services across wealth quintiles.

Vaccination improves the equity of health among the poor.

Key Evidence: A group of experts evaluated a number of maternal, neonatal, and child health interventions for equity across wealth quintiles using data from 1990-2006. Immunization was found to have the narrowest differences in coverage of services between the poorest and wealthiest children (28% higher coverage in the highest wealth quintile compared to the lowest). By contrast, indicators of treatment coverage for children sick with diarrhea and pneumonia were nearly 60% higher in the highest wealth quintile compared to the poorest. This means that poor children are at a much greater disadvantage with respect to receiving treatment for pneumonia and diarrhea than they are for receiving vaccines to prevent these infections.