Assessment of Inequality of Opportunity in Access to Maternal Healthcare Services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Jawad Rahim Afridi and Sajjad Ahmad Jan
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Jawad Rahim Afridi: PhD. Scholar, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
Sajjad Ahmad Jan: Associate Professor, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), 2024, vol. 13, issue 2, 870-876

Abstract: Despite the significance of maternal healthcare services (MHCS) for protecting the health and welfare of mothers and newborns, access to MHCS is still a problem in many nations, including Pakistan. Given the high rates of maternal mortality in Pakistan. An analysis has been carried out to measure the inequality of opportunity (IO) of MHCS in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the marginal contribution of circumstances and efforts to the IO in KP, using data from the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey in 2012–13 & 2017–18. The findings stated that access to MHCS, especially antenatal care (ANC) and skilled birth attendants (SBA), has improved. Postnatal care (PNC) coverage, however, has decreased, highlighting the need for more attention. The marginal contribution of circumstances or efforts to inequality of opportunity in KP's MHCS was also determined using the Shapley decomposition approach. According to the findings, the important and contextual factors influencing the increasing inequality of ANC and SBA have been women's education, husband education, and wealth status, while the others contributed to the reduction. Similarly, husband education, women's own decisions about health, and exposure to mass media contribute to the inequality of opportunity, i.e. PNC in the case of KP, Pakistan. However, place of residence, women’s education, wealth status, and distance play significant roles in decreasing the inequality of PNC in KP. These results might serve as the foundation for developing policies and initiatives that increase maternal healthcare service access and lessen inequality in KP.

Keywords: MHCS; Inequality of Opportunity; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rfh:bbejor:v:13:y:2024:i:2:p:870-876

DOI: 10.61506/01.00403

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