Access to services and information
Almost seven million child deaths could be prevented each year if known effective treatments and preventive measures were delivered to all mothers and children who need them. Yet the reality is that many children die at home having had no contact with health services.
Children of poor families are most vulnerable: they are exposed to higher risks of disease than their wealthier peers, they have reduced immunity because of poorer nutrition, they have reduced physical access to health services, and they or their parents are less likely to seek care. When they do seek care, they are less likely to receive good quality treatment or to comply with recommendations for referral. In light of this reality, tackling inequities in child health should be seen as a moral imperative.
- Barriers to immunization among women and children living in Slums of Zone 3 of Dhaka city, Bangladesh
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This study, published by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, attempts to understand the reasons why extremely poor people do not obtain immunisations in Bangladesh, especially those living in slum households.
Recommended readings
- Applying an equity lens to child health and mortality: more of the same is not enough
- ( C.G. Victoria / The Lancet , 2003)
- Recommended reading
- Gaps in child mortality between rich and poor countries are unacceptably wide and in some areas are becoming wider, as are the gaps between wealthy and poor children within most countries. Poor childr...
- Achieving universal coverage with health interventions
- ( C.G. Victoria; K. Hanson; J. Bryce; P. Vaughan / The Lancet , 2004)
- Recommended reading
- Known cost effective public health interventions are not reaching developing country populations who need them. Programmes to deliver these interventions are too often patchy, low quality and short-li...
- Recognizing childhood illnesses and their traditional explanations: exploring options for care-seeking interventions in the context of the IMCI strategy in rural Ghana
- ( Z. Hill; C. Kendall; P. Arthur; B. Kirkwood; E. Adjei / Medline , 2003)
- Recommended reading
- This paper, published in Tropical Medicine and International Health, examines the importance of poor illness recognition as a barrier to care-seeking for severely ill children in Ghana. Research show...
Latest Additions
- Call for a stronger focus on the gender implications of inadequate transport in rural areas
- ( G. Porter / Overseas Development Institute, London , 2007)
- This paper produced for a conference at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) reflects on the experiences of women and girls with poor accessibility to services and markets, and inadequate transpor...
- Integrated health and transport strategies could help reduce maternal and child mortality rates
- ( J. Babinard;P. Roberts / World Bank , 2006)
- This report published by the World Bank focuses on the role of transport and road infrastructure in the delivery of and access to maternal and child health services, and in the effectiveness of the he...
