Abstract
Over the last few decades, India has made laudable progress in reducing infant mortality. Despite this progress, socio-economic inequalities in infant mortality persist in India. The study examines relative contribution of different factors to total economic inequalities in infant mortality in India. The study also examined the state-level and rural-urban income-related inequality in infant mortality. The study used the third and fourth rounds of National Family Health Survey. The study divided the predictors into four group. 1) Maternal Factors 2) Household factors 3) Child related factors 4) Environmental factors. Income related inequality in infant mortality was quantified by the concentration index (CI) and the concentration curve (CC). The study used Wagstaff decomposition analysis to decompose the concentration index. Study found that the economic inequality in infant mortality has increased over the two survey periods. The increase in inequality in infant mortality is higher in rural India than in urban India. Half (51.97 %) of the inequality in infant mortality during 2015-16 was contributed by the mother’s education and open defecation. Reducing the equity gap is desirable; by reaching to those who have limited or no access to healthcare. Recommendations concerning the WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) actions should be emphasized. The focus should be on eradicating the practice of open defecation, construction of latrines, and safe disposal practice of feces. There is also a need to provide mass education regarding nutrition and health, along with focussing on the correlates that aim at improving parent education.
Presenters
Ratna PatelPhD Research Scholar, Department of Public Health and Mortality Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Maharashtra, India
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Public Health Policies and Practices
KEYWORDS
Infant Health, Sanitation, Hygiene, Inequality, Poverty, Socioeconomic Differences, Exclusion
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