Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Service Coverage Sub-Index in Ethiopia’s War-torn Tigray: Findings from a Community-based Survey
1
Health Systems, Mekelle University, College of Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Mekelle, Ethiopia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A2013
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
This study aimed to assess the effect of the recovery efforts by different actors following the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) on Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (RMNCH) services sub-index score of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region.
METHODS:
The study employed a community-based cross-sectional survey of 2340 households with mothers of children aged 0-59 months. Data were collected from six accessible zones of Tigray using an open data kit (ODK) software for data collection and Stata version 17 for analysis. We computed the geometric mean of FP, ANC4+, penta3, and pneumonia treatment to determine the RMNCH sub-index score. In addition, disaggregated analysis was done among the socio-demographic and administrative characteristics to assess the equity of health service coverage.
RESULTS:
A total of 2338 households (99.9%) participated in the study. The vast majority were aged below 34 years while a considerable portion were rural residents. The regional RMNCH sub-index score was 34.4 out of 100. However, the findings were uneven among maternal and child health services. Specifically, immunization has been higher than the other services and has skewed the computation. Age groups less than 34 years, parents with better educational status, employed parents, urban residents, households having had television/radio family size less than five members had considerably higher scores than their counterparts. The performance of the RMNCH sub-index score results considerably varied among the administrative zones of the region.
CONCLUSIONS:
The UHC RMNCH sub-index service coverage performed low regionally. It considerably varies by age group, residence, educational status, employment, availability of media, family size, and administrative zone. Accordingly, comprehensive and concerted interventions by all actors on maternal health services and pneumonia treatment among children that could address the wide inequity may have paramount importance.
This study aimed to assess the effect of the recovery efforts by different actors following the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) on Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health (RMNCH) services sub-index score of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region.
METHODS:
The study employed a community-based cross-sectional survey of 2340 households with mothers of children aged 0-59 months. Data were collected from six accessible zones of Tigray using an open data kit (ODK) software for data collection and Stata version 17 for analysis. We computed the geometric mean of FP, ANC4+, penta3, and pneumonia treatment to determine the RMNCH sub-index score. In addition, disaggregated analysis was done among the socio-demographic and administrative characteristics to assess the equity of health service coverage.
RESULTS:
A total of 2338 households (99.9%) participated in the study. The vast majority were aged below 34 years while a considerable portion were rural residents. The regional RMNCH sub-index score was 34.4 out of 100. However, the findings were uneven among maternal and child health services. Specifically, immunization has been higher than the other services and has skewed the computation. Age groups less than 34 years, parents with better educational status, employed parents, urban residents, households having had television/radio family size less than five members had considerably higher scores than their counterparts. The performance of the RMNCH sub-index score results considerably varied among the administrative zones of the region.
CONCLUSIONS:
The UHC RMNCH sub-index service coverage performed low regionally. It considerably varies by age group, residence, educational status, employment, availability of media, family size, and administrative zone. Accordingly, comprehensive and concerted interventions by all actors on maternal health services and pneumonia treatment among children that could address the wide inequity may have paramount importance.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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