scholarly journals Gini and wealth in 34 sub-Saharan African countries from 1990

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaa Hall ◽  
Göran Djurfeldt ◽  
niklas Boke Olén

The standard narrative about inequality is that is ever increasing, but solid evidence to support this claim is often lacking, especially for poor countries and at subnational levels where data are scarce and poor. In this paper we use data from the Demographic and Health Survey for 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and over 50000 villages surveyed since 1990. We use a wealth index developed by DHS researchers and Gini coefficients drawing on the same source together with remote sensing data. By means of a mixed model we conclude that human development, operationalized by the wealth index has tended to be associated with lower rather than higher inequality in SSA during the period covered.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257522
Author(s):  
Getu Debalkie Demissie ◽  
Yigizie Yeshaw ◽  
Wallelign Aleminew ◽  
Yonas Akalu

Introduction Diarrhea is responsible for the death of more than 90% of under-five children in low and lower-middle income countries. Regionally, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 88% of deaths with the same age group. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among children under-five years in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods The appended, most recent demographic and health survey datasets of 34 sub-Saharan African countries were used to determine the prevalence and associated factors of diarrhea among under-five children in the region. A total weighted sample of 330,866 under-five children were included in the study. Both bivariable and multivariable multilevel logistic regression were done to determine the associated factors of diarrhea among under five children in sub-Saharan Africa. The Odds Ratio (OR) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was calculated for those potential factors included in the final model. Result The overall prevalence of diarrhea in this study was 15.3% (95% CI: 15.1–15.4). Those children of mothers aged 15–24 (AOR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.23, 1.30) and 25–34 years (AOR = 1.15; 95%CI: 1.12, 1.18), those children of mothers with no education (AOR = 1.69; 95%CI: 1.57–1.82), primary education (AOR = 1.73; 95%CI: 1.61–1.86) and secondary education (AOR = 1.49; 95%CI: 1.38–1.59) had higher odds of having diarrhea. Those children from poorest (AOR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.10, 1.19), poorer (AOR = 1.12; 95%CI: 1.08–1.17), middle (AOR = 1.06; 95%CI: 1.02, 1.10), and richer (AOR = 1.14; 95%CI: 1.04–1.12) households had higher chance of having diarrhea compared to their counterparts. Conclusion This study found that the prevalence of childhood diarrhea morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa was high. Maternal age, wealth index, maternal education, maternal occupation, age of child, time of initiation of breast feeding and time to get water source were significantly associated with diarrhea. Therefore, intervention through health education and health promotion for mothers/caretakers who are poor, less educated, and young should be designed to prevent diarrhea in the region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amos Saurombe

There are eight health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the mandate of which is to ensure access to affordable healthcare for poor countries, especially in Africa. These MDGs were supposed to be reached by 2015, but six years have now passed with little success being realised. The cost of affordable medicines remains the main predicament for poor African countries. The focus of this paper is limited to the poor countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a part of sub-Saharan Africa. I have previously written on other measures that have been employed to improve access to medicine, for example pooled procurement used by a number of SADC countries. Unfortunately the vast rural nature of SADC member states makes it prohibitively impossible to reach every citizen, let alone convince them of the usefulness of Western healthcare. A number of scholars have written about southern Africa’s riches in the area of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) that directly relate to healthcare. It is thus the objective of this paper to argue that both efforts of using IKS and the modern healthcare system can complement each other in the quest for the realisation of better healthcare and quality of life for the citizens of southern Africa. This paper starts with a motivation to indicate why IKS and access to healthcare are related. An analysis of the eight related MDGs follows as a way of measuring how far these have been realised post the anticipated date in 2015. In this analysis, it is critical to unearth how IKS can be used in the realisation of solutions to these shortcomings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Setegn Muche Fenta ◽  
Hailegebrael Birhan Biresaw ◽  
Kenaw Derebe Fentaw

Abstract Background In sub-Saharan African countries, neonatal mortality rates remain unacceptably high. Ethiopia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the highest death rates of newborn children. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with neonatal mortality in Ethiopia at the individual and community level. Methods The 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data was accessed and used for the analysis. A total of 2449 newborn children were included in the analysis. The multilevel logistic regression model was used to identify the significant factor of neonatal mortality. Adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval and p-value < 0.05 in the multilevel model was reported. Results A total of 2449 newborn children were included in this study. Multiple birth type (AOR = 3.18; 95% CI 2.78, 3.63), birth order of ≥ 5 (AOR = 2.15; 95% CI 1.75, 2.64), pre-term birth (AOR = 5.97; 95% CI 4.96, 7.20), no antenatal care (ANC) visit during pregnancy (AOR = 2.33; 95% CI 2.09, 2.61), not received TT injection during pregnancy (AOR = 2.28; 95% CI 1.92, 2.71), delivered at home (AOR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.48, 2.69), less than 24 months of preceding birth interval (AOR = 1.51; 95% CI 1.35,1.68), smaller birth size (AOR = 1.58; 95% CI 1.46, 1.71), never breastfeeding (AOR = 2.43; 95% CI 2.17, 2.72), poor wealth index (AOR = 1.29; 95% CI 1.17,1.41), non-educated mothers (AOR = 1.58; 95% CI 1.46, 1.71), non-educated fathers (AOR = 1.32; 95% CI 1.12, 1.54), rural residence (AOR = 2.71; 95% CI 2.23, 3.29), unprotected water source (AOR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.16, 1.58), and have no latrine facility (AOR = 1.78; 95% CI 1.50, 2.12) were associated with a higher risk of neonatal mortality. Neonates living in Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Harari, and Dire Dawa had a higher risk of neonatal mortality compared to Tigray. Moreover, the random effects result showed that about 85.57% of the variation in neonatal mortality was explained by individual- and community-level factors. Conclusions The findings suggest that attention be paid to education-based programs for mothers that would highlight the benefits of delivery care services, such as ANC visits, TT injections, and facility births. Meanwhile, public health initiatives should focus on expanding access to quality sanitation facilities, especially for latrines and drinking water that could improve neonatal health at the community-level as a whole.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-146
Author(s):  
Mariam Abbas Soharwardi ◽  
Tusawar Iftikhar Ahmad

In Sub-Saharan Africa, two out of five children are malnourished and malnutrition causes almost half of the child deaths (45%). Mothers are the primary caretaker of children's health, but unfortunately, most of the mothers, are not empowered in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study examined the role of mother’s empowerment in the reduction of malnutrition (stunting, wasting, and underweight) among children under five years of age in twenty-two Sub-Saharan African countries. Cross-sectional data from the most recent Demographic Health Survey (2011-2016) of twenty-two countries are used to analyze the relationship between mother's empowerment and child malnutrition through the binary logistic regression analysis. Results show that the countries with low empowerment, the prevalence of malnutrition is high. Mother empowerment is found to be a statistically significant predictor in reducing malnutrition. Mother’s education, body mass index, and age at first birth proved to be a strong predictor for reducing malnutrition. Household wealth index and household locality also have a statistically significant impact on the reduction of malnutrition. At the household level, malnutrition of children can be minimized by empowering boosting their self-esteem, self-confidence, economic resources, social resources, awareness and decision making.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Göran Djurfeldt ◽  
Ola Hall ◽  
Magnus Jirström ◽  
Maria Archila Bustos ◽  
Björn Holmquist ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Betregiorgis Zegeye ◽  
Felix Emeka Anyiam ◽  
Bright Opoku Ahinkorah ◽  
Edward Kwabena Ameyaw ◽  
Eugene Budu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the region with the highest burden of anemia globally. Since anemia has both health and non-health-related consequences, its reduction is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among married women in SSA. Methods Using Stata version-14 software, the analysis was done on 89,029 married women from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 19 countries in SSA. Pearson Chi-Square test and Binary logistic regression analyses were used to examine the factors associated with anemia. The results were presented using adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) at a 95% Confidence Interval (CI). A p-value less than or equal to 0.05 (p ≤ 0.05) was considered statistically significant. Results The pooled analysis showed that 49.7% of married women were anemic. Of these, 1.04% and 15.05% were severely and moderately anemic respectively, and the rest 33.61% were mildly anemic. Husband education (primary school-aOR = 0.84, 95% CI; 0.71–0.99), wealth index (middle-aOR = 0.81, 95% CI; 0.68–0.96, richer-aOR = 0.69, 95% CI; 0.57–0.84, richest-aOR = 0.68, 95% CI; 0.51–0.91), modern contraceptive use (yes-aOR = 0.68, 95% CI; 0.56–0.81) and religion (Muslim-aOR = 1.27, 95% CI; 1.11–1.46, others-aOR = 0.73, 95% CI; 0.59–0.90) were factors associated with anemia among married women. Conclusion The findings show that nearly half of the married women are affected by anemia. Enhancing partners’ educational levels, and economic empowerment of women, strengthening family planning services, and working with religious leaders to reduce the perception and religious beliefs related to food restrictions can be the main focus to reduce the burden of anemia among married women in SSA.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngozi A Erondu ◽  
Sagal A Ali ◽  
Mohamed Ali ◽  
Schadrac C Agbla

BACKGROUND In sub-Saharan Africa, underreporting of cases and deaths has been attributed to various factors including, weak disease surveillance, low health-seeking behaviour of flu like symptoms, and stigma of Covid-19. There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spread mimics transmission patterns of other countries across the world. Since the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way research can be conducted and in light of restrictions on travel and risks to in-person data collection, innovative approaches to collecting data must be considered. Nearly 50% of Africa’s population is a unique mobile subscriber and it is one of the fastest growing smart-phone marketplaces in the world; hence, mobile phone platforms should be considered to monitor Covid-19 trends in the community. OBJECTIVE We demonstrate the use of digital contributor platforms to survey individuals about cases of flu-like symptoms and instances of unexplained deaths in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. METHODS Rapid cross-sectional survey of individuals with severe flu and pneumonia symptoms and unexplained deaths in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Zimbabwe RESULTS Using a non-health specific information platform, we found COVID-19 signals in five African countries, specifically: •Across countries, nearly half of the respondents (n=739) knew someone who had severe flu or pneumonia symptoms in recent months. •One in three respondents from Somalia and one in five from Zimbabwe respondents said they knew more than five people recently displaying flu and/or pneumonia symptoms. •In Somalia there were signals that a large number of people might be dying outside of health facilities, specifically in their homes or in IDP or refugee camps. CONCLUSIONS Existing digital contributor platforms with local networks are a non-traditional data source that can provide information from the community to supplement traditional government surveillance systems and academic surveys. We demonstrate that using these distributor networks to for community surveys can provide periodic information on rumours but could also be used to capture local sentiment to inform public health decision-making; for example, these insights could be useful to inform strategies to increase confidence in Covid19 vaccine. As Covid-19 continues to spread somewhat silently across sub-Saharan Africa, regional and national public health entities should consider expanding event-based surveillance sources to include these systems.


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