Health statistics in MICS and DHS a gendered

Health statistics in MICS and DHS – a gendered perspective Holly Newby Statistics & Monitoring Section UNICEF ESA/STAT/AC. 219/12

Major household surveys Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) – Began in 1984 – Supported by USAID with on-the-ground technical assistance provided by Macro International Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) – Began in 1995 – Supported by UNICEF – Harmonized with DHS

Gender-related data in MICS and DHS • More than 100 indicators are available from survey data with the majority of results available by sex and other background characteristics • Specific modules on women’s empowerment, violence against women and on harmful practices, such as child marriage, and female genital mutilation/cutting • All datasets publically available so that further analysis may be performed

Health areas (with gender data available) • Child health – Diarrhoea – Pneumonia – Malaria – Immunization • Nutrition – Feeding practices – Nutritional status • Mortality – Under five – Adult ** • HIV/AIDS – Knowledge – Attitudes – Behaviour – HIV testing ** • Additional topics – Fertility preferences and contraception – Biological measures – Other

Health analysis at UNICEF Databases: • Over 100 global databases for tracking the situation of children and women • MICS and DHS key sources of data • Disaggregated (when feasible) • www. childinfo. org Analysis: • Focus on disparities, disaggregated data

Breastfeeding Percentage of infants under 6 months old who are exclusively breastfed, by gender

Diarrhea treatment % children under five with diarrhoea receiving recommended treatment, developing countries Source: data source MICS, DHS and other national representative sources, published in UNICEF’s report ‘Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done’ 2009

Malaria interventions Girls and boys are equally likely to benefit from malaria interventions Percentage of children under 5 years old sleeping under insecticide-treated nets and percentage of children under 5 years old with fever treated with antimalarials, by gender, sub-Saharan Africa

Underweight prevalence Percentage of children 0 -59 months old who are underweight, by region and gender 42 41 South Asia 21 Sub-Saharan Africa 24 10 10 East Asia and the Pacific Girls Boys 4 4 Latin America and the Caribbean Developing countries 24 24 World 23 24 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Note: Analysis is based on a subset of 75 countries with residence information, covering 81% of the under-five population in the developing world. Prevalence estimates are calculated according to WHO Child Growth Standards. CEE/CIS is not included in this table, as there were insufficient data to calculate prevalence according to WHO Child Growth Standards, 2003– 2008. The rural/urban ratio in CEE/CIS, based on the NCHS reference population, is 1. 9. Source: UNICEF global databases, 2010.

Underweight prevalence by gender and income groups Percentage of children 0 -59 months old who are underweight, by gender and wealth quintiles Tanzania

HIV/AIDS comprehensive knowledge Percentage of young people 15 -24 years old with comprehensive, correct knowledge about HIV and AIDS, by selected characteristics

Health data from a gendered perspective • There is a wealth of existing data that can be used for advocacy and programmatic insight – Final reports – Data sets • Disaggregated data can often result in large confidence intervals, thus complicating interpretation of results • Little disparity seen at younger ages; substantial disparity at older ages

Under-five mortality Ratio of under-five mortality: Boys to girls, by region Across all regions, under-five mortality is usually higher among boys than girls

Pneumonia care-seeking BOYS AND GIRLS SIMILARLY TAKEN TO APPROPRIATE CARE % under-fives with pneumonia taken to an appropriate health care provider Source: UNICEF’s report ‘Pneumonia the forgotten killer of children’ Data from 67 DHS and MICS, 1996 -2003, except wealth index from 32 MICS, 1999 -2003

Malaria treatment Proportion under five children, with fever, receiving anti-malarial medicines 20062009 70 Boys Girls 60 50 40 30 20 10 ia al a So m di In i Pa kis ta n Za m bi a aw al M ba bw e er ia Zim Lib e qu m bi as oz a a. F M in Bu rk Gh Source: UNICEF global databases 2010 o a an a bi Za m ire Ivo d' te Co Ca m er oo n o To g ia op Et hi PD R La o Vi et N am 0