How are the domains of women's inclusion, justice, and security associated with maternal and infant mortality across countries? Insights from the Women, Peace, and Security Index
| Autor: | Jennifer Parsons, Li Li, Jeni Klugman, Kelly Dale, Kathryn M. Barker |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Maternal mortality
Health (social science) Index (economics) media_common.quotation_subject Women's health Justice Infant mortality Economic Justice Sierra leone 03 medical and health sciences symbols.namesake 0302 clinical medicine 030212 general & internal medicine Poisson regression lcsh:Social sciences (General) Empowerment media_common Inclusion 030505 public health lcsh:Public aspects of medicine Health Policy Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health lcsh:RA1-1270 Special Section: Gender Equality Empowerment and Health (Guest editor: Anita Raj) Index Standardized mortality ratio Gender and development symbols lcsh:H1-99 0305 other medical science Psychology Demography |
| Zdroj: | SSM-Population Health SSM: Population Health, Vol 9, Iss, Pp-(2019) |
| ISSN: | 2352-8273 |
| Popis: | Women's autonomy and empowerment in their homes, communities, and societies at large have been shown, through many direct and indirect pathways, to be associated with maternal and infant health. A novel global measure—the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index—that bridges insights from gender and development indices with those from peace and security has recently been developed to capture the constructs of women's inclusion, justice, and security, using indicators and targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper adds to the growing literature about the importance of gender inequality to key mortality outcomes for women and children by investigating the associations between nations' WPS Index scores and maternal mortality ratios and infant mortality rates. We use a range of international databases to obtain country-level data from 144 nations on health, demographic, income, and gender equality indicators. The aim is to highlight the role of women's inclusion, justice, and security in explaining national rates of maternal and infant mortality. Fully adjusted Poisson regression models indicate that a one point (0.01) increase on the WPS Index score is associated with a 2.0% reduction in the number of maternal deaths and a 2.3% reduction in the number of infant deaths. For a country such as Sierra Leone, with a maternal mortality ratio of 1360 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, a one point improvement in the WPS Index would correspond to a maternal mortality ratio of 1,332, or 28 fewer deaths per 100,000 births. These associations are ecological and apply to the average level of mortality at the country level rather than the likelihood or risk faced at the individual level. Although we cannot claim causality for the observed relations in the cross-country regressions, the findings and recurring patterns are both suggestive and encouraging about the potential contributions of women's inclusion, justice, and security to maternal and infant mortality. Highlights • The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index is a novel composite index, developed in 2019. • The index measures women’s inclusion (economic, political, social); justice; and security (at home and in society). • Using data from 144 nations, we find a significant relationship between the WPS Index and maternal and infant mortality. • The inclusion and security aspects of the WPS Index are especially significant. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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