Health statistics in MICS and DHS – a gendered perspective Holly Newby Statistics & Monitoring Section UNICEF ESA/STAT/AC.219/12

Major household surveys Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) – Began in 1984 – Supported by USAID with on-the-ground technical assistance provided by Macro International Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) – Began in 1995 – Supported by UNICEF – Harmonized with DHS

Gender-related data in MICS and DHS More than 100 indicators are available from survey data with the majority of results available by sex and other background characteristics Specific modules on womens empowerment, violence against women and on harmful practices, such as child marriage, and female genital mutilation/cutting All datasets publically available so that further analysis may be performed

Health areas (with gender data available) Child health – Diarrhoea – Pneumonia – Malaria – Immunization Nutrition – Feeding practices – Nutritional status Mortality – Under five – Adult ** HIV/AIDS – Knowledge – Attitudes – Behaviour – HIV testing ** Additional topics – Fertility preferences and contraception – Biological measures – Other

Health analysis at UNICEF Databases: Over 100 global databases for tracking the situation of children and women MICS and DHS key sources of data Disaggregated (when feasible) Analysis: Focus on disparities, disaggregated data

Breastfeeding Percentage of infants under 6 months old who are exclusively breastfed, by gender

Diarrhea treatment % children under five with diarrhoea receiving recommended treatment, developing countries Source: data source MICS, DHS and other national representative sources, published in UNICEFs report Diarrhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done 2009

Malaria interventions Girls and boys are equally likely to benefit from malaria interventions Percentage of children under 5 years old sleeping under insecticide-treated nets and percentage of children under 5 years old with fever treated with antimalarials, by gender, sub-Saharan Africa

Underweight prevalence Percentage of children 0-59 months old who are underweight, by region and gender Note: Analysis is based on a subset of 75 countries with residence information, covering 81% of the under-five population in the developing world. Prevalence estimates are calculated according to WHO Child Growth Standards. CEE/CIS is not included in this table, as there were insufficient data to calculate prevalence according to WHO Child Growth Standards, 2003–2008. The rural/urban ratio in CEE/CIS, based on the NCHS reference population, is 1.9. Source: UNICEF global databases, 2010.

Underweight prevalence by gender and income groups Tanzania Percentage of children 0-59 months old who are underweight, by gender and wealth quintiles

HIV/AIDS comprehensive knowledge Percentage of young people years old with comprehensive, correct knowledge about HIV and AIDS, by selected characteristics

Health data from a gendered perspective There is a wealth of existing data that can be used for advocacy and programmatic insight – Final reports – Data sets Disaggregated data can often result in large confidence intervals, thus complicating interpretation of results Little disparity seen at younger ages; substantial disparity at older ages

Under-five mortality Ratio of under-five mortality: Boys to girls, by region Across all regions, under-five mortality is usually higher among boys than girls

Pneumonia care-seeking Source: UNICEFs report Pneumonia the forgotten killer of children Data from 67 DHS and MICS, , except wealth index from 32 MICS, BOYS AND GIRLS SIMILARLY TAKEN TO APPROPRIATE CARE % under-fives with pneumonia taken to an appropriate health care provider

Malaria treatment Proportion under five children, with fever, receiving anti-malarial medicines Source: UNICEF global databases 2010