Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016
Introduction Although global birth registration coverage has improved from 58% to 71% among children under five globally, inequities in birth registration coverage by wealth, urban/rural location, maternal education and access to a health facility persist. Few studies examine whether inequities in b...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2019-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/6/e001926.full |
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| author | Aluísio J D Barros Jason Beckfield Cesar Victora Amiya Bhatia |
| author_facet | Aluísio J D Barros Jason Beckfield Cesar Victora Amiya Bhatia |
| author_sort | Aluísio J D Barros |
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| description | Introduction Although global birth registration coverage has improved from 58% to 71% among children under five globally, inequities in birth registration coverage by wealth, urban/rural location, maternal education and access to a health facility persist. Few studies examine whether inequities in birth registration in low-income and middle-income countries have changed over time.Methods We combined information on caregiver reported birth registration of 1.6 million children in 173 publicly available, nationally representative Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys across 67 low-income and middle-income countries between 1999 and 2016. For each survey, we calculated point estimates and 95% CIs for the percentage of children under 5 years without birth registration on average and stratified by sex, urban/rural location and wealth. For each sociodemographic variable, we estimated absolute measures of inequality. We then examined changes in non-registration and inequities between surveys, and annually.Results 14 out of 67 countries had achieved complete birth registration. Among the remaining 53 countries, 39 countries successfully decreased the percentage of children without birth registration. However, this reduction occurred alongside statistically significant increases in wealth inequities in 9 countries and statistically significant decreases in 10 countries. At the most recent survey, the percentage of children without birth registration was greater than 50% in 16 out of 67 countries.Conclusion Although birth registration improved on average, progress in reducing wealth inequities has been limited. Findings highlight the importance of monitoring changes in inequities to improve birth registration, to monitor Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 and to strengthen Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-166740c7c2d145a3a28a9e43f269aca5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-166740c7c2d145a3a28a9e43f269aca52024-12-12T04:15:12ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082019-12-014610.1136/bmjgh-2019-001926Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016Aluísio J D Barros0Jason Beckfield1Cesar Victora2Amiya Bhatia3Posgraduate Program of Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, BrazilDepartment of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USAemeritus professor of epidemiologyDepartment of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKIntroduction Although global birth registration coverage has improved from 58% to 71% among children under five globally, inequities in birth registration coverage by wealth, urban/rural location, maternal education and access to a health facility persist. Few studies examine whether inequities in birth registration in low-income and middle-income countries have changed over time.Methods We combined information on caregiver reported birth registration of 1.6 million children in 173 publicly available, nationally representative Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys across 67 low-income and middle-income countries between 1999 and 2016. For each survey, we calculated point estimates and 95% CIs for the percentage of children under 5 years without birth registration on average and stratified by sex, urban/rural location and wealth. For each sociodemographic variable, we estimated absolute measures of inequality. We then examined changes in non-registration and inequities between surveys, and annually.Results 14 out of 67 countries had achieved complete birth registration. Among the remaining 53 countries, 39 countries successfully decreased the percentage of children without birth registration. However, this reduction occurred alongside statistically significant increases in wealth inequities in 9 countries and statistically significant decreases in 10 countries. At the most recent survey, the percentage of children without birth registration was greater than 50% in 16 out of 67 countries.Conclusion Although birth registration improved on average, progress in reducing wealth inequities has been limited. Findings highlight the importance of monitoring changes in inequities to improve birth registration, to monitor Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 and to strengthen Civil Registration and Vital Statistics systems.https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/6/e001926.full |
| spellingShingle | Aluísio J D Barros Jason Beckfield Cesar Victora Amiya Bhatia Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016 BMJ Global Health |
| title | Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016 |
| title_full | Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016 |
| title_fullStr | Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016 |
| title_short | Are inequities decreasing? Birth registration for children under five in low-income and middle-income countries, 1999–2016 |
| title_sort | are inequities decreasing birth registration for children under five in low income and middle income countries 1999 2016 |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/4/6/e001926.full |
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