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
60
Bangladesh
Tanzania
50
50
51
42
40
40
30
Boys
28
26
25
23
Girls
22
22
20
13
12
10
Highest 20 % wealth
Lowest 20% wealth
Total
Highest 20 % wealth
Lowest 20% wealth
Total
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
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Source: UNICEF global databases 2010
Girls