Poster session on Population and development

Pursuit of equity in health and health care has been the key feature of health policy in India. Despite the policy significance, the volume of literature on this important topic is very inadequate in the Indian context. This paper, for the first time seeks to provide evidence on horizontal inequity in health care utilization in 16 major states and north-eastern region of India. The number of outpatient care visits in the past 15 days, number of hospitalizations and length of stay in hospital over 12 months period were extracted from 60th round (2004) data of National Sample Survey. All these measures of health care utilization were standardized for need differences using demographic characteristics and morbidity indicators and controlling for other socioeconomic factors. Need standardized concentration indices were used to measure income related inequities in health care utilization. Absolute inequalities are found between states in the proportion of the population reporting a visit to an outpatient provider, from as low as 4 percent in Bihar to as high as 22 percent in Kerala. Notwithstanding, after standardization, no violation of principle of horizontal equity is found in outpatient care in many states. Significant inequity is observed with respect to the utilization of inpatient care, favouring the rich in all states except

Unemployment is very important macroeconomic indicator. It reacts to changes of other indicators in economy. An analysis of interaction among employment and unemployment and GDP, investments and inflation is introduced in the article with a special attention to population ageing. The objective is to present relation of population structure reflecting ageing process and labor market and to prove or reject hypothesis that unemployment rate, employment rate and participation rate are related to GDP growth and their reaction is delayed by one or two quarters. In the analysis it is possible to monitor effects of economic crisis as well.
The paper presents several correlation analyses applied on both annually and quarterly distributed data in the Czech Republic. Correlation was found between proportion of seniors in the population and employment rate and participation rate. Unemployment, on the other hand, is not correlated with population structure; rather it depends on macroeconomic indicators. Relationship between unemployment rate and GDP growth rate was proved for data started in Q1/2007 and for delay of two and three quarters.

CO-AUTHORS: Jitka Langhamrova, Jana Langhamrova, Ondrej Simpach, Petra Dotlacilova

Despite the acknowledgment that participatory approaches in development can help in the understanding and designing of development programmes and policies, discourses about poverty and development especially among the rural poor continue to be dominated by those who are considered to be non-rural and non-poor. Using qualitative data collected from residents of Makueni district of Eastern Kenya, this paper seeks to reverse this approach by discussing the community’s perceptions of poverty and development in their context. This data, collected through household interviews, focus group discussions with community members and key informant interviews with community leaders reveals the meanings, indicators and categorizations of poverty and development as well as the best possible approaches to adopt for poverty alleviation and development programmes in this community. This study finds that definitions of poverty and development go beyond the monetary measures and vary according to context. In Makueni, water is considered the biggest priority. Respondents also highlight the pathway to development given adequate water supply. Findings of this study emphasize the need to approach development in different contexts as separate entities, involve the beneficiaries in identifying their most felt needs and involving them in development.

With the longevity improvements it is pertinent to know whether the extended years of life are going to be spend in healthy or worsened state. Financing health which is one of the critical determinants of health outcomes is further determined by population structure as the higher prevalence of morbidity among elderly causes elevated health expenditure which turns into more requirement of money under the assumption that the elderly are treated equally to younger. With longevity improvements and age structural transition the old aged population is expected to grow from 6.7 (2001) to 19.1 percent by 2050 in India. This needs a simultaneous future growth of health expenditure in India. The study found that though, number of healthy years has increased but this increase is not in the same pace as increase in life expectancy. Moreover, age structure transition has role in health spending and if it is taken into account in projection, health spending will reach at 6.5 percent as percent to GDP in 2050. Though, per capita health spending is found to be significantly higher among elderly, its contribution is very high among young population because of large size.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are time-limited commitments made by governments throughout the world to reduce poverty and promote human development. The past two decades have witnessed significant improvements in the living conditions and health status of the world people, particularly the developing countries. The aim of this paper is to evaluate human development level in achieving MDG’s of 4 and 5 in the Western Africa countries and to explore its policy implications. Data used in this analysis are mostly taken from the WHO (World Health organization) for 2010, Population Reference Bureau for 2010 and Human Development Report (HDR) for 2006 and 2008. According to Roger’s theory on diffusion of Innovations which is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures in the complex atmosphere. With expansion advanced medical care systems, it is implied that we can see positive signs of reduction of mortality indices at the globalized World. Our result confirms it at the regional scale even with little progress in reduction of Child and Maternal Mortality rates. It involves evaluating possible solutions for human wellbeing at the World and Africa Continent as well by national and international authorities.

A central restructuring of intergovernmental relations following decentralization in Indonesia is, among others, about financial system. Unacceptable share of local Budget to family planning is widely occurring. Huge discrepancy is unavoidable. Specific Allocation Fund/SAF allows direct financing from central to the local government limited to finance physical infrastructure. It has been implemented since 2008 with persistent increase in its total budget covering 377 districts. This study aims to analyze the management of the SAF for family planning in 6 provinces during 2010-2011. The information derived from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with various stakeholders at provincial and district levels as well as analysis of current SAF policy and secondary data. Along with the story that SAF provision gives “hope” to the districts, this financing system is temporary to the low resource settings. Even so no guarantee can be hold that rich districts will provide adequate budget for family planning program to survive. A boarder viewpoint need to be considered and the scheme of this financing need to be re-designed in such a way that this fund mechanism empowers districts to be more responsible in bringing the program adaptive to the local demand.

In 2009, the government of indonesia issued Law No. 52 regarding ‘Population and Family Development‘ which stipulates that population should become the center of all development policies and programs. Nevertheless, perceptions regarding the concept of population-centred development and the importance of population data for development planning differ among district governments. The aim of this paper is to identify the use of population data in the process of planning and policy-making at district level. This study uses qualitative approach. Data were collected in 2012 using in-depth interviews with government agencies officers and parliament members. It is revealed that the study areas have translated laws related to development planning into district regulations, however there are barriers in implementing the regulations. This study identifies several issues in the utilization of population data for planning and policy-making: dissemination and accessibility; data quality and reliability; and policymakers’ commitment and capacity to use population data in planning and policy-making. Recommendations of this study include: increase policymakers’ commitment and capacity to use population data through collaboration with Population Study Center at local universities; improving data quality and reliability; strengthening dialogue bet

This work investigates the earnings mobility in Brazil, considering the period before and after the observed fall of inequality in the country. We used micro data from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD), published by the Brazilian Bureau of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), from 1993 to 2007. We considered the trajectories of income for homogenous groups based on individual characteristics such as: date of birth, gender, race and schooling level. The estimation is done by age-period-cohort model. The combination of the characteristics of age and birth cohort emphasizes the role that education can have in higher income mobility, especially on the younger cohorts.

Healthcare expenditure of Indian government is 1.2% of GDP which leaves a question mark on universal health coverage. India has one of the highest inefficient and iniquitous out of pocket expenditure in Asia. Health insurance is, thus, widely recognized and preferable mechanism to finance the health care expenditures. The present study attempts to recognize uninsured population and reasons for low health insurance cover. The study has used Longitudinal Ageing Study in India pilot data conducted by International Institute for Population Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, and RAND Corporation in 2010. The study has used bivaraite and multivariate analysis on a sample of 1585 population which reflected embryonic stage of health insurance. People are not much aware about it and those who are aware are not actively participating due to affordability or accessibility issues. Sixty percent of study population considers financial issues important for purchasing health cover and thus a large section of the population is indirectly left out. The study emphasizes the need of increasing the awareness about health insurance to boost its demand. India has one of the highest domestic saving rates which if channelized into productive financial instrument can prevent the burden of catastrophic health expenditure.

The relationships between poverty, female autonomy and fertility are spelled out in everyday life although scientific causalities are complex to disentangle. This paper is based on two rounds of qualitative studies in rural Kenya. The two areas, in Western and Coast Provinces are characterized by high levels of poverty combined with variations in fertility development. After 1989 Kenya experienced fertility decline, which came to a halt from the end of the 1990s. Western Province follows this development, while in Coast only modest fertility changes have taken place. Given widespread poverty in both areas, this paper asks if women possess different spaces of autonomy, and if so, what implications can be traced for family planning and fertility. The first round of case studies was carried out in Bungoma, Western Province in 1988 (Jensen and Juma, 1989) and Kwale, Coast Province in 1991 (Jensen and Khasakhala, 1993). The second round was a follow-up of the previous studies, carried out in 2011. The case studies have been carried out just before the general fertility decline and at the end – at a time when the question is whether a new decline may be in motion.