| Childhood vitamin A capsule supplementation coverage in Nigeria: a multilevel
analysis of geographic and socioeconomic inequities. |
| Authors: |
Aremu O, Lawoko S, Dalal K. |
| Source: |
The Scientific World Journal, 2010 Oct 1;10:1901-14. DOI:10.1100/tsw.2010.188 |
| Topic(s): |
Child health
Vitamin A
|
| Country: |
Africa
Nigeria
|
| Published: |
OCT 2010 |
| Abstract: |
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a huge public health burden among preschool-aged
children in sub-Saharan Africa, and is associated with a high level of susceptibility to
infectious diseases and pediatric blindness. We examined the
Nigerian national vitamin A capsule (VAC) supplementation program, a short-term
cost-effective intervention for prevention of VAD-associated morbidity for equity
in terms of socioeconomic and geographic coverage. Using the most current,
nationally representative data from the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health
Survey, we applied multilevel regression analysis on 19,555 children nested
within 888 communities across the six regions of Nigeria. The results indicate
that there was variability in uptake of VAC supplement among the children, which
could be attributed to several characteristics at individual, household, and
community levels. Individual-level characteristics, such as maternal occupation,
were shown to be associated with receipt of VAC supplement. The results also
reveal that household wealth status is the only household-level characteristic
that is significantly associated with receipt of VAC, while neighborhood
socioeconomic disadvantage and geographic location were the community-level
characteristics that determined receipt of VAC. The findings from this study have
shown that both individual and contextual socioeconomic status, together with
geographic location, is important for uptake of VAC. These findings underscore
the need to accord the VAC supplementation program the much needed priority with
focus on characteristics of neighborhoods (communities), in addition to
individual-level characteristics. |
|