An influential policy idea states that reducing inequality is beneficial for improving health in the low and middle income countries (LMICs). Our study provides an empirical test of this idea: we utilized data collected by the Demographic and Health Surveys between 2000 and 2011 in as much as 52 LMICs, and we examined the relationship between household wealth inequality and two health outcomes:...

BACKGROUND In Australia the health outcomes of remote dwelling Aboriginal infants are comparable to infants in developing countries. This research investigates service quality, from the clinicians' perspective and as observed and recorded by the researcher, in two large Aboriginal communities in the Top End of northern Australia following health system changes. METHODS Data were collected fro...

BACKGROUND Effective stakeholder engagement in research and implementation is important for improving the development and implementation of policies and programmes. A varied number of tools have been employed for stakeholder engagement. In this paper, we discuss two participatory methods for engaging with stakeholders - participatory social network analysis (PSNA) and participatory impact pathw...

The increasing recognition that millions of women and children die every year as a result of the poor health of the mother coupled with inadequate care before, during, and after delivery, has highlighted the importance of seeking women's views of health services in order to contribute to improving their health. The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on women's views of health services ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of Sure Start local programmes (SSLPs) on children and their families. To assess whether variations in the effectiveness of SSLPs are due to differences in implementation. DESIGN Quasi-experimental cross sectional study using interviews with mothers and cognitive assessment of children aged 36 months who speak English. SETTING Socially deprived communities ...

it is crucial to monitor the growth and development of a child in early stage of life to take early corrective action in time to ensure normal growth. child health card (chc) is a tool used to maintain records and monitor the under five children. the objective of this study was to find out the maternal awareness on chc and factor associated with its retention. this was a cross sectional analyti...

Globally, Pakistan has the third highest burden of maternal, fetal, and child mortality. It has made slow progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 and in addressing common social determinants of health. The country also has huge challenges of political fragility, complex security issues, and natural disasters. We undertook an in-depth analysis of Pakistan's progress...

OBJECTIVES First, to evaluate whether a local campaign to prevent childhood injuries increased parents' inclination to follow eight television programmes broadcast nationwide, and second, to assess whether parents reached by a local campaign benefitted more from the television programmes than those not reached by the campaign. METHODS Before the television programmes were broadcast, all famil...

BACKGROUND Evidence about the best methods with which to accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals is urgently needed. We assessed the effect of performance-based payment of health-care providers (payment for performance; P4P) on use and quality of child and maternal care services in health-care facilities in Rwanda. METHODS 166 facilities were randomly assigned a...

It is crucial to monitor the growth and development of a child in early stage of life to take early corrective action in time to ensure normal growth. Child health card (CHC) is a tool used to maintain records and monitor the under five children. The objective of this study was to find out the maternal awareness on CHC and factor associated with its retention. This was a cross sectional analyti...