Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:12:02.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

WEALTH-BASED INEQUALITY IN CHILD IMMUNIZATION IN INDIA: A DECOMPOSITION APPROACH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2017

Avijit Debnath  and
Nairita Bhattacharjee
Avijit Debnath*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Assam University, Silchar Assam, India
Nairita Bhattacharjee
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Assam University, Silchar Assam, India
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Despite years of health and medical advancement, children still suffer from infectious diseases that are vaccine preventable. India reacted in 1978 by launching the Expanded Programme on Immunization in an attempt to reduce the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Although the nation has made remarkable progress over the years, there is significant variation in immunization coverage across different socioeconomic strata. This study attempted to identify the determinants of wealth-based inequality in child immunization using a new, modified method. The present study was based on 11,001 eligible ever-married women aged 15–49 and their children aged 12–23 months. Data were from the third District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3) of India, 2007–08. Using an approximation of Erreyger’s decomposition technique, the study identified unequal access to antenatal care as the main factor associated with inequality in immunization coverage in India.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 50 , Issue 3 , May 2018 , pp. 312 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, K. (2008) Methods of Social Research. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Brooks, C. (2014) Introductory Econometrics for Finance. Cambridge University Press, London.Google Scholar
Chen, Z., Eastwood, D. B. & Yen, S. T. (2007) A decade’s story of childhood malnutrition inequality in China: where you live does matter. China Economic Review 18(2), 139–154.Google Scholar
Clarke, P. M., Gerdtham, U. G., Johannesson, M. et al. (2002) On the measurement of relative and absolute income-related health inequality. Social Science & Medicine 55, 1923–1928.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doorslaer, E. V., Koolman, X. & Jones, A. M. (2004) Explaining income‐related inequalities in doctor utilisation in Europe. Health Economics 13(7), 629–647.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erreygers, G. (2006) Beyond the Health Concentration Index: An Atkinson Alternative for the Measurement of the Socioeconomic Inequality of Health. Research Administration, University of Antwerp.Google Scholar
Erreygers, G. (2009) Correcting the Concentration Index. Journal of Health Economics 28, 504–515.Google Scholar
IIPS (2015) District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS-3), 2007–08. IIPS, Mumbai, India. URL: http://www.rchiips.org/arch-3.html (accessed 5th February 2015).Google Scholar
IIPS & Macro International (2014) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1, II & III), 2005–06, India. IIIPS, Mumbai, India. URL: http://www.rchiips.org/nfhs/ (accessed 20th January 2014).Google Scholar
Kakwani, N. C. (1980) Income Inequality and Poverty. Methods of Estimation and Policy Applications. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Kjellsson, G. & Gerdtham, U. G. (2012) On correcting the concentration index for binary variables. Journal of Health Economics 32, 659–670.Google Scholar
Kumar, A. & Ram, F. (2013) Influence of family structure on child health: evidence from India. Journal of Biosocial Science 45(5), 577–599.Google ScholarPubMed
Lauridsen, J. & Pradhan, J. (2011) Socio-economic inequality of immunization coverage in India. Health Economics Review 1(1), 1–6.Google Scholar
McLeod, J. (2010) Case Study Research in Counseling and Psychotherapy. Sage Publications, London.Google Scholar
Mathew, J. L. (2012) Inequity in childhood immunization in India: a systematic review. Indian Paediatrics 49(3), 203–223.Google Scholar
Pande, R. P. (2003) Selective gender differences in childhood nutrition and immunization in rural India: the role of siblings. Demography 4(1), 395–418.Google Scholar
Sahoo, H. (2012) Coverage of child immunization and its determinants in India. Social Change 42(2), 187–202.Google Scholar
Srivastava, J. N. & Saksena, D. N. (1998) Immunization of children and its correlates in rural Uttar Pradesh. Journal of Family Welfare 35(1), 22–33.Google Scholar
Thang, N. M., Bhushan, I., Bloom, E. & Bonu, S. (2007) Child immunization in Vietnam: situation and barriers to coverage. Journal of Biosocial Science 39(1), 41–58.Google Scholar
Wagstaff, A. (2005) The bounds of the concentration index when the variable of interest is binary, with an application to immunization inequality. Health Economics 14, 429–432.Google Scholar
Wagstaff, A., Paci, P. & van Doorslaer, E. (1991) On the measurement of inequalities in health. Social Science & Medicine 33, 545–557.Google Scholar
Wagstaff, A., van Doorslaer, E. & Watanabe, N. (2003) On decomposing the causes of health sector inequalities with an application to malnutrition inequalities in Vietnam. Journal of Econometrics 112(1), 207–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WHO (2014) Children: Reducing Mortality. WHO Factsheet No. 178. URL: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs178/en/ (accessed 21st February 2014).Google Scholar
WHO & UNICEF (2005) Global Immunization Vision and Strategy, 2006–2015. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Bank (1993) World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Zheng (2006) Measuring health inequality and health opportunity 2006. Paper Presented at the Conference Advancing Health Equity, Helsinki, WIDER-UNU.Google Scholar