Strong effect of Ecuador's conditional cash transfer program on childhood mortality from poverty-related diseases: a nationwide analysis.
BMC Public Health
; 19(1): 1132, 2019 Aug 17.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31420035
BACKGROUND: The mortality rate in children under 5 years old (U5MR) has decreased considerably in Ecuador in the last decade; however, thousands of children continue to die from causes related to poverty. A social program known as Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH) was created to guarantee a minimum level of consumption for families and to reduce chronic malnutrition and preventable childhood diseases. We sought to evaluate the effect of the BDH program on mortality of children younger than 5 years, particularly from malnutrition, diarrheal diseases, and lower respiratory tract infections. METHODS: Mortality rates and BDH coverage from 2009 to 2014 were evaluated from the 144 (of 222) Ecuadorian counties with intermediate and high quality of vital information. A multivariable regression analyses for panel data was conducted by using a negative binomial regression model with fixed effects, adjusted for all relevant demographic and socioeconomic covariates. RESULTS: Our research shows that for each 1% increase in BDH county coverage there would be a decrease in U5MR from malnutrition of 3% (RR 0.971, 95% CI 0.953-0.989). An effect of BDH county coverage on mortality resulting from respiratory infections was also observed (RR 0.992, 95% CI 0.984-0.999). The BDH also reduced hospitalization rates in children younger than 5 years, overall and for diarrhea. CONCLUSIONS: A conditional cash transfer program such as BDH could contribute to the reduction of mortality due to causes related to poverty, such as malnutrition and respiratory infections. The coverage should be maintained -or increased in a period of economic crisis- and its implementation strengthened.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pobreza
/
Assistência Pública
/
Saúde da Criança
/
Mortalidade da Criança
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Newborn
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Ecuador
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Public Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Equador
País de publicação:
Reino Unido