Poverty and Health Equity

USAID focuses on the link between poverty and health equity with the aim of improving access to family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) services for the poor in developing countries. This involves defining the issues that affect the provision of services to the poorest segments of the population, taking a more careful look at who is using services and who is left behind, and developing a strategic response for reaching the poor. The technical focus of the Poverty and Health Equity Working Group is to identify research, tools, and approaches needed to address these issues. The group pays articular attention to supporting the Repositioning Family Planning and Contraceptive Security Global Leadership Priority.

• USAID Success Story
• Publications
• Tools, Data Resources, and Models for Analysis
• Regional Information
• Additional Resources

USAID Success Story

• USAID and Peruvian Government Partner to Improve Health Care Inequities - 05/08

Publications

• Analyzing Health Equity Using Household Survey Data: A Guide to Techniques and Their Implementation - 2007
  Progress in quantifying and understanding health equities would not be possible without appropriate analytic techniques. The aim of this book from the World Bank Institute is to provide researchers and analysts with a step-by-step practical guide to the measurement of a variety of aspects of health equity.
  
  
• Designing Health and Population Programs to Reach the Poor - 2006 [PDF, 494KB]
  This report draws from literature on promoting greater equity in the health sector, including the findings and lessons from the World Bank's Reaching the Poor Program.
  
  
• How Much Would Poor People Gain From Faster Progress Towards the Millennium Development Goals for Health? - 02/26/05 [PDF, 71KB]
  


• Poor People's Knowledge: Promoting Intellectual Property in Developing Countries
  A review of a book edited by J. Michael Finger and Philip Schuler about development practices focused on encouraging intellectual and knowledge-based property in Africa.
  


• Reaching the Poor With Health, Nutrition, and Population Services: What Works, What Doesn’t, and Why - 2005 [PDF, 1.6MB]
  


• World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development

Tools, Data Resources, and Models for Analysis

• Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Comparative Report #6: The DHS Wealth Index 2004 [PDF, 1MB]
  


• Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Quintile Data - Fall 2002 [PDF, 485KB]
  


• PovcalNet: An Interactive Computational Tool for Poverty Data
  A tool created by the World Bank that calculates poverty measures based on countries that the user chooses.
  


• World Development Indicators 2008
  


• USAID Poverty Analysis and Social Safety Net Team

Regional Information

• Multi-Country Projects in Equity, Poverty, and Health
  Find links to resources for information on equity, poverty and health. Browse the most comprehensive directory of available inter-country research projects on poverty, equity, and health - by project, and by region and country.
  
  
• Our Common Interest: Report of the Commission for Africa - March 2005 [PDF, 3.5MB]
  A report from the Commission for Africa proposing a course of action for developed countries and African nations to work together in the development of Africa.
  

Additional Resources

• Department for International Development (DID)
  


• Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
  


• World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health