Geospatial Inequality in Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (RMNCH) Coverage in Districts of India

Gulshan Kumar , International institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Basant Panda, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

We used the National Family and Health Survey (2015-16) to examine coverage gap index (CGI) across 36 states and 640 districts of India. The CGI was calculated as the weighted average of eight preventive and curative interventions received along the continuum of maternal and child care. Descriptive statistics, spatial analysis, absolute difference, and ratio methods and were used to understand geospatial inequality of CGI in various region. The CGI is 25% at national level which varies from 11 % in Kerala to 54 % in Nagaland. Whereas, 308 districts have the higher CGI from the national level. The geospatial clustering of CGI found 122 districts are as hotspots are located at high focused states. Results also highlight that the poorest household has 2.5 times higher CGI than the richest household. Target intervention in districts of high focused state can reduce inter-state inequality in maternal and child health care in India.

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 Presented in Session 11. Health & Mortality 2