Socio-economic inequity in use of antennal care and child immunization services in Goa

Abstract

The antenatal care and child immunization are important strategies for reducing maternal and infant mortality rate. The present study aims to measure the economic and educational inequity in the use of antenatal care and child immunization for the state of Goa. The data for the present study was collected using a cross sectional study design based on two stage stratified random sampling method in North Goa District. The sample size consisted of 250 mothers delivered during last two years for measuring antenatal care, and 250 mothers of children in the age group 12-24 months. The data was analyzed using chi-square test, logistic regression, Lorenz’s curve and Gini coefficient. The analysis of the data revealed that the use of antenatal care was 78.2% and the use of child immunization was 89.2 %. There was significant disparity in the use of antenatal care and use of child health care according to education of mother, religion and socio-economic status of mother. The Gini coefficient for the utilization antenatal care was 0.07 and 0.11 for educational and economic inequity respectively, whereas the Gini coefficient for child immunization was 0.04 and 0.03 for educational and economic inequity respectively. The inequity was more in use of antenatal care compared to child immunization, which highlights the needs for health administrators to reduce the gap in the antenatal care services provided to the pregnant women.

Keywords

• Antenatal Care, Child Immunization, Inequity, Gini Coefficient, Concentration Curve