title: Promoting equity to achieve maternal and child health.
abstract: Maternal and child mortality rates, the targets for two of the eight Millennium Development Goals, remain unacceptably high in many countries. Some countries have made significant advances in reducing deaths in pregnancy, childbirth, and childhood at the national level. However, on a sub-national basis most countries show wide disparities in health indices which are not necessarily reflected in national figures. This is a sign of inequitable access to and provision of health services. Yet there has been little attention to health equity in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. Instead, countries have focused on achieving national targets. This has led to an emphasis on utilitarian, as opposed to universalist, approaches to public health, which we discuss here. We recommend a policy of "proportionate universalism". In this approach, universal health care and a universal social policy are the ultimate goal, but in the interim actions are carried out with intensities proportionate to disadvantage. We also briefly describe an initiative that aims to promote evidence-based policy and interventions that will reduce inequity in access to maternal and child health care in China, India, Indonesia and Viet Nam.
authors: Division of Global Health, Department of Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden. sarah.thomsen@ki.se
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Thomsen
authors: Dinh Thi Phuong
authors: DT
authors: Hoa
authors: Mats
authors: M
authors: Målqvist
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Sanneving
authors: Deepak
authors: D
authors: Saxena
authors: Susilowati
authors: S
authors: Tana
authors: Beibei
authors: B
authors: Yuan
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Byass
mesh_terms: D046688:Child Mortality / Q000639:trends; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007214:Indonesia / Q000453:epidemiology; D038622:Internationality; D008428:Maternal Mortality / Q000639:trends; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D014480:United Nations; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology