Dear HIFA and CHIFA colleagues,
CITATION: Meeting the Global Target in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Care Services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Md. Mehedi Hasan, Ricardo J. Soares Magalhaes, Saifuddin Ahmed, Sayem Ahmed, Tuhin Biswas, Yaqoot Fatima, Md. Saimul Islam, Md. Shahadut Hossain and Abdullah A. Mamun
Global Health: Science and Practice December 2020, 8(4):654-665; https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-20-00097
https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/8/4/654
KEY FINDINGS
- Progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn,and child health care service coverage is increasing but is uneven between countries and across subgroups (in terms of wealth, place of residence, education, age, and sex) within countries. These coverage gaps are projected to continue.
- By 2030, none of the low- and middle-income countries would be able to achieve the target of universal coverage for oral rehydration therapy for diarrhea treatment or to seek care for acute respiratory infections. Only a few countries are likely to achieve universal coverage for demand for family planning satisfied with modern contraceptive methods, recommended visits for antenatal care, and skilled birth attendant for assistance during birth.
KEY IMPLICATIONS
- When designing appropriate interventions for increasing the coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health care services, program managers should consider disadvantaged and marginalized populations.
- Acceleration is needed in coordinated global efforts and government policies focusing on marginalized groups, administering cost-effective interventions, and implementing proactive follow-up for routinely scheduled health care services.
COMMENT (NPW): Access to basic healthcare knowledge continues to be a major barrier. In India, for example, more than half of children with acute diarrhoea receive less to drink than normal (and one in 20 receive no fluids at all), thereby tragically increasing their risk of death. Furthermore, more than 1 in 3 children with diarrhoea seen by a health worker are inappropriately given antibiotics, which are not recommended for childhood diarrhoea (except in special circumstances). Such basic errors in care contribute to hundreds of child deaths from diarrhoea every day in India alone. https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa/why-hifa-needed
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Best wishes, Neil
Coordinator, HIFA Project on Information for Citizens, Parents and Children
http://www.hifa.org/projects/citizens-parents-and-children
Let's build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare information - Join HIFA: www.hifa.org
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of the HIFA global health campaign (Healthcare Information For All - www.hifa.org ), a global community with more than 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting on six global forums in four languages in collaboration with WHO. Twitter: @hifa_org FB: facebook.com/HIFAdotORG neil@hifa.org