This study tested the inverse equity hypothesis, which postulates that new health interventions are initially adopted by the wealthy and thus increase inequalities—as population coverage increases, only the poorest will lag behind all other groups. The authors analysed the proportion of births occurring in a health facility by wealth quintile in 286 surveys from 89 low- and middle-income countries (1993–2015) and developed an inequality pattern index. Positive values indicate that inequality is driven by early adoption by the wealthy (top inequality), whereas negative values signal bottom inequality. Absolute inequalities were widest when national coverage was around 50%. At low national coverage levels, top inequality was evident with coverage in the wealthiest quintile taking off rapidly; at 60% or higher national coverage, bottom inequality became the predominant pattern, with the poorest quintile lagging behind. The authors argue that policies need to be tailored to inequality patterns. When top inequalities are present, barriers that limit uptake by most of the population must be identified and addressed. When bottom inequalities exist, interventions must be targeted at specific subgroups that are left behind.
Equity in Health
Nearly 1 billion people in Africa will be vaccinated against yellow fever by 2026 in an ambitious United Nations campaign to eliminate epidemics of the deadly disease on the continent. The mosquito-borne viral disease is a major killer in Africa, where it can spread fast in highly populated areas with devastating consequences. "With one injection we can protect a person for life against this dangerous pathogen," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the programme's launch in Nigeria, a priority target country. A major vaccination campaign in Angola and Congo in 2016 brought one of the worst outbreaks of the disease in decades under control after more than 400 people died. The vaccination programme is a joint venture by the WHO, UNICEF, the GAVI global vaccine alliance and more than 50 health partners.
This 12th edition of the District Health Barometer (DHB) covers 52 districts and includes a total of 47 financial and health indicators, 11 of which are new. This annual publication provides an overview of the performance of public health services in South Africa and has become an important planning and management resource for health service providers, managers, researchers and policy makers in the country. The DHB plays an important role in providing information for district mangers to benchmark their districts against the others in the country and in strengthening the use of data for priority setting and decision making. The Barometer is used as the basis for workshops with district managers which provides an opportunity to engage with the data and collaborate with technical experts on how best to use this information for planning. This edition paints a mixed picture, showing significant gains in some areas while highlighting areas that need further attention. Mortality rates in South Africa increased between 1997 and 2006 and declined thereafter until 2015, mainly due to the HIV epidemic and the roll-out of ARTs. Despite this, HIV and AIDS and associated conditions still stand out as being a leading cause of morbidity, together with cerebrovascular diseases, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, road injuries, interpersonal violence and hypertensive heart disease.
This paper reports on a cross-sectional study of 9002 births to 6328 women age 15–49 in the 2010 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey to identify correlates of under-five mortality in all children under-five, 0–11 months, and 12–59 months. The results indicated that of 14 covariates associated with under-five mortality in bivariate analysis, the following remained associated with under-five mortality in multivariate analysis: household being among the poorest of the poor, child being a twin, mother having 3–4 births in the past 5 years compared to 1–2 births, mother being HIV positive, and mother not using contraceptives compared to using a modern method. Mother experiencing physical or sexual violence in the last 12 months was associated with under-five mortality in children ages 1–4 years. Under five survival was associated with a preceding birth interval 25–50 months compared to 9–24 months, and having a mosquito net. It was concluded that in the past decade, Rwanda rolled out integrated management of childhood illness, near universal coverage of childhood vaccinations, a national community health worker program, and a universal health insurance scheme. The results of the study suggest that Rwanda’s next wave of U5 mortality reduction should target programs in improving neonatal outcomes, poverty reduction, family planning, HIV services, malaria prevention, and prevention of intimate partner violence.
This study compared socioeconomic differentials in self-rated health and happiness in five sub-Saharan countries. Using the 2010/2014 World Values Survey, the authors obtained a sample of 9,869 participants of age 16 and above from five sub-Saharan countries. Socioeconomic inequalities were quantified using the concentration index. Poor self-rated health ranges from approximately 9% in Nigeria to 20% in Zimbabwe, whereas unhappiness was lower in Rwanda and higher in South Africa. Poor self-rated health and unhappiness were excessively concentrated among the poorest socioeconomic strata. Although magnitudes differ across countries, however, the major contributor to wealth-related inequality in poor self-rated health is satisfaction with financial situation whereas for unhappiness the major contributors are level of income and satisfaction with financial situation. This study underscores an association between wealth related inequalities and poor self-rated health and unhappiness in the context of sub-Saharan countries. Improving equity in health may be useful in fighting against the unfair distribution of resources. The authors suggest that knowledge about the self-rating of health and happiness can serve as proxy estimates for understanding the distribution of health care access and economic resources for well-being.
The Children Count website hosts information about children in South Africa: their living conditions, care arrangements, health status, and access to schools and other services. These child-centred statistics are based on the best available national data. The website includes downloadable fact sheets on 40 indicators, as well as an interactive tool that enables you to view tables and graphs for different years and provinces. Children Count / Abantwana Bablulekile is an ongoing data and advocacy project of the Children’s Institute.
This Commission was prompted by sub-Saharan Africa's potential to improve health on its own terms, and largely with its own resources. It promotes evidence-based optimism, with caution. Sub-Saharan countries are noted to face difficult development agendas in the decades to come, but also immense opportunities to be acted upon. A key message of this commission is that the opportunities ahead cannot be unlocked with 'more of the same' approaches and by keeping to the current pace. The commission advocates an approach based on people-centred health systems and inspired by progress, which can be adapted in line with each country's specific needs. A comprehensive approach and system-wide changes are required. Broad partnerships beyond the medical and health community are argued to be essential to move the health agenda forward. Without a serious shift in mindsets across all levels of society, all sectors of government, and all institutions it is seen to be difficult to have meaningful and sustainable change. Young people in Africa are observed to be key to bringing about the transformative changes needed to rapidly accelerate efforts to improve health and health equity across sub-Saharan Africa.
The author raises that almost 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year because of debts accrued through healthcare expenses. Citing a report, published by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, she highlights that the poorest and most vulnerable people are routinely forced to choose between healthcare and other necessities for their household, including food and education, subsisting on $1.90 (£1.40) a day. Researchers found that more than 122 million people around the world are forced to live on $3.10 a day, the benchmark for “moderate poverty”, due to healthcare expenditure. Since 2000, this number is reported to have increased by 1.5% a year. She cites Timothy Evans, senior director of health, nutrition and population at the World Bank Group: “Universal healthcare coverage is not just about better health. The reality is that as long as millions of people are being impoverished by health expenses, we will not reach our collective sustainable development goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.”
This study aimed to generate high-resolution estimates of under-5 and neonatal all-cause mortality across 46 countries in Africa. The authors assembled 235 geographically resolved household survey and census data sources on child deaths to produce estimates of under-5 and neonatal mortality at a resolution of 5 × 5 km grid cells across 46 African countries for 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Amid improving child survival in Africa, there was substantial heterogeneity in absolute levels of under-5 and neonatal mortality in 2015, as well as the annualised rates of decline achieved from 2000 to 2015. Subnational areas in countries such as Botswana, Rwanda, and Ethiopia recorded some of the largest decreases in child mortality rates since 2000, positioning them well to achieve SDG targets by 2030 or earlier. Yet these places were the exception for Africa, since many areas, particularly in central and western Africa, must reduce under-5 mortality rates by at least 8.8% per year, between 2015 and 2030, to achieve the SDG 3.2 target for under-5 mortality by 2030. In the absence of unprecedented political commitment, financial support, and medical advances, the viability of SDG 3.2 achievement in Africa is argued to be precarious at best.
The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change is an international, multidisciplinary research collaboration between academic institutions and practitioners across the world that aims to track the health impacts of climate hazards; health resilience and adaptation; health co-benefits of climate change mitigation; economics and finance; and political and broader engagement. The Lancet Countdown aims to report annually on a series of indicators across these five areas in tandem with existing monitoring processes, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and WHO's climate and health country profiles. The indicators will also evolve over time through ongoing collaboration with experts and a range of stakeholders, and be dependent on the emergence of new evidence and knowledge.