Have More, Get More: Global Inequities in Women's Health Care

The Millennium Development Goals include objectives to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. International investigators analyzed progress toward these goals in 54 countries with high maternal and child mortality. A focus of the study was distribution of effective interventions within each country based on household wealth.

While many interventions aimed at children (e.g., immunizations, oral rehydration therapy) were applied relatively equitably within each country, there were wide gaps — in both relative and absolute terms — in the distribution of interventions directed toward women. Within the 54 countries together, relatively wealthy women were 4.6 times more likely to have a birth attended by a skilled practitioner than po…