News

May 10, 2022

Health and development from preconception to 20 years of age to build human capital

For human capital formation and a prosperous future, development and optimal health are crucial, from preconception to adulthood. The Nurturing Care Framework conceptualizes the influences that affect human capital occur during developmental periods, from preconception, through pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence (adapted to age 20). Other important considerations are stillbirths, mortality in children under 5 years of age, and deaths in children aged 5 to 19. It is estimated that in 2019, 8.6

May 10, 2022

Effects of early-life poverty on health and human capital in children and adolescents: analyses of national surveys and birth cohort studies in LMICs

Over the past two decades, the nutrition and survival of children (and to a lesser extent, adolescents) have improved substantially. Large disparities between and within countries persist, despite improvements associated with effective delivery of biomedical, behavioral, and environmental interventions. We analyzed how strongly the health, nutrition and cognitive development of children and adolescents are related to early-life poverty, using data from 95 national surveys low- and middle-income

April 19, 2022

Economic-related inequalities in zero-dose children: a study of non-receipt of diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis immunization using household health survey data from 89 low- and middle-income countries

Vaccines are one of the best buys in public health. However, worldwide, 17.1 million children did not receive at least one dose of the three-dose diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (DTP) series. Major global immunization initiatives have adopted an intensified focus on reaching zero-dose children (operationalized as children with zero doses of DTP). We quantified the extent of socioeconomic inequality and change over time in zero-dose DTP prevalence using 156 household surveys conducted

April 11, 2022

ICEH database reaches 450 analyzed surveys

The year is 2022, the month is March, and the magic number is 450. This is the total number of surveys analyzed by the International Center for Equity in Health with the inclusion of 15 surveys to the database in this last round of analysis. The latest update added three surveys from the Demographic and Health Survey program, nine Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and three non-standard national health surveys from Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador. Three countries appeared for the first time in our d

April 05, 2022

Children of more empowered women are less likely to be left without vaccination in low- and middle-income countries: A global analysis of 50 DHS surveys

Gender-related barriers to vaccination have an important role in public health. To understand these issues, we used a measure of women’s empowerment and explored its association with the prevalence of zero-dose in children aged 12-23 months from 50 low- and middle-income countries. We found that children of women with lower empowerment level presented a zero-dose prevalence 3 times higher than children of mothers with higher empowerment level. Mother’s empowerment had a higher effect

March 11, 2022

Disparities in early initiation of breast feeding and prelacteal feeding: A study of low- and middle-income countries

Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) reduces the risk of neonatal death in both high- and low and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, less than 50% of children are put to the breast within the first hour after birth in LMICs. Conversely, prelacteal feedings are widely used in many of these countries. We investigated inequalities in the prevalence of EIBF and prelacteal feeding by household wealth and place of delivery (institutional [private or public facilities] or in-home deliveries)

January 05, 2022

Identifying the women most vulnerable to intimate partner violence: A decision tree analysis from 48 low and middle-income countries

Using a technique called “decision-trees”, Carolina Coll and colleagues identified groups of women most vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV) and its markers across 48 low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The pooled analysis, which combines Demographic and Health surveys data from all countries, showed that women with lower levels of empowerment who witnessed IPV during childhood were the ones with the highest risk, accounting for 1 in every 4 women who experienced IPV

December 07, 2021

Ethnic inequalities in health intervention coverage among Mexican women at the individual and municipality levels

Indigenous peoples in Latin America are frequently economically and socially disadvantaged and have historically been among the poorest in most countries. Space or location is essential in population health because neither the quantity nor the quality of health services is distributed uniformly. The spatial distribution of ethnic groups creates inequalities in access to services, employment, and life opportunities. Using the case of Mexico, the country with the largest indigenous population i

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