title: Setting the stage for equity-sensitive monitoring of the maternal and child health Millennium Development Goals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This analysis seeks to set the stage for equity-sensitive monitoring of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
  
  
  METHODS
  We use data from international household-level surveys (Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)) to demonstrate that establishing an equity baseline is necessary and feasible, even in low-income and data-poor countries. We assess data from six countries using 11 health indicators and six social stratifiers. Simple bivariate stratification is complemented by simultaneous stratification to expose the compound effect of multiple forms of vulnerability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The data reveal that inequities are complex and interactive: inferences cannot be drawn about the nature or extent of inequities in health outcomes from a single stratifier or indicator.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MDGs and other development initiatives must become more comprehensive and explicit in their analysis and tracking of inequities. The design of policies to narrow health gaps must take into account country-specific inequities.
authors.affiliation: Task Force 4, Child Health and Maternal Health, UN Millennium Project, and Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA.
authors.forename: Meg E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wirth
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Balk
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delamonica
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Storeygard
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sacks
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minujin
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008430:Maternal-Child Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D014480:United Nations