OBJECTIVE To measure socioeconomic inequalities and differential risk in infant mortality on national and regional levels in Chile from 1990 to 2005, and propose new policy targets. METHODS The study analysed Chilean vital events registries from 1990 to 2005 for infant mortality by maternal education, head of household occupational status, cause, age and location of death. Annual infant morta...

The arguments in favor of trade liberalization are well known: it promotes the efficient allocation of resources through comparative advantage, allows the dissemination of knowledge and technological progress, and encourages competition. Trade liberalization is likely to have a major impact on the lives of poor children and their families. Although this effect may be positive in the long run, t...

This paper examines the existence and extent of transport inequity and disadvantage in new suburbs in Dublin, built during the Celtic Tiger period and as experienced during the recession. Findings are presented from a household postal survey from three case study areas built between 2001-2008. The case study areas are typical ‘middle class’ suburbs, and were constructed at a time when Ireland w...

In many developing countries, public programs in the form of food aid distribution and food-for-work programs are often meant to protect vulnerable households from consumption and nutrition downturns by providing a safety net. Few studies have evaluated the impact of these programs. Furthermore, households often use a variety of informal mechanisms to cope with risk, including mutual support an...

The paper attempts to describe catastrophic health spending and its impact to poverty in the Philippine setting. It focuses on the role of out-of-pocket payments for health care as a springboard in the analysis of measuring the magnitude and analyzing the extent of damage of catastrophic health expenditures. It also explores the scope and trends of these spending by different socioeconomic indi...

Surveys for more than 9,500 households were conducted in the growing seasons 2002/2003 or 2003/2004 in eleven African countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Niger and Senegal in western Africa; Egypt in northern Africa; Ethiopia and Kenya in eastern Africa; South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe in southern Africa. Households were chosen randomly in districts that are representative for key agro-...

The recent entry of products containing antibacterial agents into healthy households has escalated from a few dozen products in the mid-1990s to more than 700 today. Antibacterial products were developed and have been successfully used to prevent transmission of disease-causing microorganisms among patients, particularly in hospitals. They are now being added to products used in healthy househo...

BACKGROUND Nepal has committed to the global community to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. Nevertheless, Nepal still has a high proportion of out-of-pocket health payment and a limited risk-pooling mechanism. Out-of-pocket payment for the healthcare services could result in catastrophic health expenditure (CHE). Evidence is required to effectively channel the efforts to lower those ex...