Inequality of Opportunity in Healthcare Services

Balwant Mehta (), Ravi Srivastava () and Siddharth Dhote ()
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Ravi Srivastava: Institute for Human Development
Siddharth Dhote: Institute for Human Development

Chapter Chapter 6 in Predicting Inequality of Opportunity and Poverty in India Using Machine Learning, 2025, pp 135-158 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter studies inequality of opportunity (IOp) in access to health, with especial focus to maternal and child health services in India. It looks at five key services: immunization, institutional delivery, antenatal care, prenatal care, and care from trained professionals. A combined indicator called ‘adequate care’ measures overall access. Using the dissimilarity index and the Human Opportunity Index (HOI), the chapter assesses how fairly these services are distributed, based on NFHS-5 data. The results show high coverage rate for institutional deliveries and trained care, but low access to immunization and antenatal services. Overall, only 26% of women and children receive adequate care. Inequality is mostly due to differences in geography, income, and parents' education. In particular, the districts in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and nearby areas show low access, while districts in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Jammu & Kashmir perform much better. The study highlights the need for targeted health policies to bridge these regional and social gaps.

Keywords: Health Inequality; Health Care Opportunity; Maternal Health; Child Health; Inequal Distribution of Health Care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:isbchp:978-981-96-2544-4_6

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-96-2544-4_6

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