Are the Poor Catching Up with the Rich in Utilising Reproductive, Maternal, New Born and Child Health Services: An Application of Delivery Channels Framework in Indian Context
Date19th May 2022
Time11:00 AM
Venue Google-meet
PAST EVENT
Details
There are several global as well as national reports that have reported an increase in coverage of reproductive, maternal, new born, and child health (RMNCH) services in India. However, there is also growing evidence that improved RMNCH indicators do not reveal the existing skewed subnational variations. We aim to assess the trends in wealth-related inequalities in coverage of RMNCH interventions using delivery channels framework at national level as well as at state level—Tamil Nadu (TN) and Chhattisgarh (CG)—a better off and poorer state, respectively. We have used unit level data from two rounds of nationally representative surveys- National Family Health Survey 3rd (2005-06) & 4th (2015-16) to study the trends and differentials of inequalities in the RMNCH coverage. The interventions were classified into four groups according to their predominant delivery channels: community based, health facility based, environmental and cultural. To assess the magnitude of inequality in the coverage of RMNCH services across households from different economic strata, we have used two summary indices—absolute inequalities using the slope index of inequality (SII) and relative inequalities using the concentration index (CIX). Culturally driven interventions had pro-poor inequalities in both TN, CG as well as in India, but the coverage has improved significantly for the women from wealthier households recently. Despite a reduction in the absolute and relative inequalities observed with respect to environmental interventions between 2005-06 and 2015-16 these interventions remain highly unequal in distribution, particularly with respect to the ‘use of clean fuels’. Inequalities in the coverage of interventions primarily delivered through health facilities have reduced in TN, CG and in India but more significantly in TN. The inequalities in coverage of community-based interventions have reduced over the period of ten years in TN, CG as well as at national level. Among the community-based interventions, “Vitamin A supplementation” and the “demand for modern contraceptives” have become more pro-poor in CG, while the coverage for DPT (diptheria, pertussis, tetatnus) and measles immunisation was quite equitable in TN. Adopting a delivery channel framework could be useful for assessing and monitoring the progress of public health programmes and interventions designed for RMNCH. Policy makers can gain insights from the success of coverage of various interventions and determine specific implementation strategies to reduce inequalities in the coverage and its effectiveness.
Speakers
Ms. P. Shirisha (HS17D010), Ph.D Research Scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, II
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras - 600 036.