Performance and Inequality in Health

A Comparison of Child and Maternal Health across Asia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20041497
AutoresBénédicte H Apouey (0000-0003-1575-8423, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, autor de correspondencia), Jacques Silber (0000-0002-6705-2513, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
Año2016
Páginas181-214
Fecha de publicación2016-11-25
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoCHAPTER
RevistaInequality after the 20th Century (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialEmerald Group Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/s1049-258520160000024008
OpenAlexW2529689431
ISBN9781785609947
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas31

A country’s performance in health attainment refers to both its achievement (level) and its improvement (evolution) in the health domain. Studies on performance generally measure health attainment using the average health level of the population and quantify health improvement employing the change in attainment over time. However, this approach is flawed because the change in attainment does not satisfy good properties, on the one hand, and because health attainment should not only account for the average health level but also for disparities in health in the population, on the other hand. We propose a solution to the first limitation by following the lead of Kakwani (1993), who uses achievement and improvement measures which are based on attainment measures and which satisfy important properties. For the second limitation, we extend the work of Kakwani and propose new definitions of attainment that account for the average health level but also for health inequalities in the population. Specifically, we focus on overall and social health inequalities and on the health of the poor. By including these new attainment variables into Kakwani’s indices, we generate new classes of achievement and improvement indices. Using data on 11 low- and middle-income Asian countries in the twenty-first century, we highlight that child and maternal health have generally improved in recent decades, due to both an increase in the average health level and a decrease in inequalities

Child health · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Educational attainment · Environmental health · Health care · Health equity · Inequality · Population · Population health · Global Maternal and Child Health · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Mathematics · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Pediatrics