Reducing the Health Equity Gap for Children in Urban Settings: The Case of Nairobi County

It is estimated that by 2025, more than half of the populations in developing countries will be living in urban areas. The expansion in economic opportunities and access to critical services in most developing countries is lagging behind population growth and this has resulted in a large poor urban population with poorer health indicators.

Despite being proximal to better healthcare services, slum residents exhibit poorer health indicators in comparison to other non-slum communities. Even within slum populations, there are pointers to substantial inequalities in maternal and new-born health services such as immunization, modern contraceptive methods, and emergency obstetric care among others.

The objective of the study was to assess child health inequities and identifying the reasons for the inequities. The study analysed service data routinely collected by Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) and data collected at health facilities through the District Health Information System (DHIS 2) and child health survey data collected by the African Population and Health Research Center. Qualitative interviews were also conducted with health care workers, CHVs, local leaders and maternal and child health service users to understand the underlying factors that explain observed disparities in service data and other population-level indicators. Mapping of main slums, health facilities & health indicators was done and presented as interactive maps.

PROJECT PERIOD:

6 months (July 2017 to December 2017)

PROJECT TEAM:

• Dr. Abdhalah Ziraba – Principal Investigator
• Benedict Orindi – Data Analyst
• Dr. Caroline Kabaria – Geoinformatics Expert
• Peter Muriuki – Research Assistant
• Elizabeth Mwaniki – Field Supervisor

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