Socio-economic inequity in use of antennal care and child immunization services in Goa

Abstract

The antenatal care and child immunization are important strategies for

reducing maternal and infant mortality rate. The present study aims to

measure the economic and educational inequity in the use of antenatal care

and child immunization for the state of Goa. The data for the present study was

collected using a cross sectional study design based on two stage stratified

random sampling method in North Goa District. The sample size consisted of

250 mothers delivered during last two years for measuring antenatal care, and

250 mothers of children in the age group 12-24 months. The data was analyzed

using chi-square test, logistic regression, Lorenz’s curve and Gini coefficient.

The analysis of the data revealed that the use of antenatal care was 78.2% and

the use of child immunization was 89.2 %. There was significant disparity in the

use of antenatal care and use of child health care according to education of

mother, religion and socio-economic status of mother. The Gini coefficient for

the utilization antenatal care was 0.07 and 0.11 for educational and economic inequity respectively, whereas

the Gini coefficient for child immunization was 0.04 and 0.03 for educational and economic inequity

respectively. The inequity was more in use of antenatal care compared to child immunization, which

highlights the needs for health administrators to reduce the gap in the antenatal care services provided to the

pregnant women.