HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (27) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wagstaff, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wagstaff, A. Related Collections Other Health Service Delivery Other Maternal and Infant Health Health Education Other Child and Adolescent Health

Adam Wagstaff, DPhil, Flavia Bustreo, MD, MPH, Jennifer Bryce, EdD, Mariam Claeson, MD, MPH and the Who–World Bank Child Health and Poverty Working Group

Adam Wagstaff, Flavia Bustreo, and Mariam Claeson are with Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank, Washington, DC. Flavia Bustreo is also with, and at the time of writing Jennifer Bryce was with, the Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, World Health Organization Geneva, Switzerland.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Flavia Bustreo, MD, MPH, The World Bank, 1818 H St NW, Washington, DC 20433 (e-mail: fbustreo{at}worldbank.org).

In most countries, rates of mortality and malnutrition among children continue to decline, but large inequalities between poor and better-off children exist, both between and within countries. These inequalities, which appear to be widening, call into question the strategies for child mortality reduction relied upon to date.

We review (1) what is known about the causes of socioeconomic inequalities in child health and where programs aimed at reducing inequalities may be most effectively focused and (2) what is known about the success of actual programs in narrowing these inequalities.

We end with lessons learned: the need for better evidence, but most of all for a new approach to improving the health of all children that is evidence based, broad, and multifaceted.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. A. J. Houweling and A. E. Kunst Socio-economic inequalities in childhood mortality in low- and middle-income countries: a review of the international evidence Br. Med. Bull., December 9, 2009; (2009) ldp048v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Gonzalez, J. H. Requejo, J. K. Nien, M. Merialdi, F. Bustreo, and A. P. Betran Tackling Health Inequities in Chile: Maternal, Newborn, Infant, and Child Mortality Between 1990 and 2004 Am J Public Health, July 1, 2009; 99(7): 1220 - 1226. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Klemick, K. L. Leonard, and M. C. Masatu Defining Access to Health Care: Evidence on the Importance of Quality and Distance in Rural Tanzania Am. J. Agr. Econ., May 1, 2009; 91(2): 347 - 358. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. H Baqui, A. M Rosecrans, E. K Williams, P. K Agrawal, S. Ahmed, G. L Darmstadt, V. Kumar, U. Kiran, D. Panwar, R. C Ahuja, et al. NGO facilitation of a government community-based maternal and neonatal health programme in rural India: improvements in equity Health Policy Plan., July 1, 2008; 23(4): 234 - 243. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. B. Eiss and R. I. Glass Bridging the Coverage Gap in Global Health JAMA, October 24, 2007; 298(16): 1940 - 1942. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Noirhomme, B. Meessen, F. Griffiths, P. Ir, B. Jacobs, R. Thor, B. Criel, and W. Van Damme Improving access to hospital care for the poor: comparative analysis of four health equity funds in Cambodia Health Policy Plan., July 1, 2007; 22(4): 246 - 262. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. L. Leonard and M. C. Masatu Variations In The Quality Of Care Accessible To Rural Communities In Tanzania Health Aff., May 1, 2007; 26(3): w380 - w392. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. E. Alvarado, M. V. Zunzunegui, H. Delisle, and J. Osorno Growth Trajectories Are Influenced by Breast-Feeding and Infant Health in an Afro-Colombian Community J. Nutr., September 1, 2005; 135(9): 2171 - 2178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]