Closing the health and nutrition gap in Odisha, India: A case study of how transforming the health system is achieving greater equity.

Health equity is high on the international agenda. This study provides evidence of how health systems can be strengthened to improve health equity in a low-income state. The paper presents a case study of how the Government of Odisha in eastern India is transforming the health system for more equitable health and nutrition outcomes. Odisha has a population of over 42 million, high levels of poverty, and poor maternal and child health concentrated in its Southern districts and among Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste communities. Conducted between 2008 and 2012 with the Departments of Health and Family Welfare, and Women and Child Development, the study reviewed a wide range of literature including policy and programme documents, evaluations and studies, published and grey material, and undertook secondary analysis of state level household surveys. It identifies innovative and expanded provision of health services, reforms to the management and development of human resources for health, and the introduction of a number of cash transfer and entitlement schemes as contributing to closing the gap between maternal and child health and nutrition outcomes of Scheduled Tribes, and the Southern districts, compared to the state average. The institutional delivery rate for Scheduled Tribes has risen from 11.7% in 2005-06 to 67.3% in 2011, and from 35.6% to 79.8% for all women. The social gradient has also closed for antenatal and postnatal care and immunisation. Nutrition indicators though improving are proving slower to budge. The paper identifies how political will, committed policy makers and fiscal space energised the health system to promote equity. Sustained political commitment will be required to continue to address the more challenging human resource, health financing and gender issues.

Improving malaria treatment and prevention in India by aiding district managers to manage their programmes with local information: a trial assessing the impact of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling on programme outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: This paper reports the first trial of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) assessing associations between access to LQAS data and subsequent improvements in district programming. This trial concerns India's approach to addressing an increase in malaria-attributable deaths by training community health workers to diagnose, treat and prevent malaria, while using LQAS to monitor sub-district performance and make programme improvements. METHODS: The Ministry of Health introduced LQAS into four matched high malaria burden districts (Annual Parasite Incidence >5) (N > 5 million). In each sub-district, we sampled four populations in three 6-monthly surveys: households, children <5 years, people with fever in the last 2 weeks and community health workers. In three districts, trained local staff collected, analysed and used data for programme management; in one control district, non-local staff collected data and did not disseminate results. For eight indicators, we calculated the change in proportion from survey one to three and used a Difference-in-Differences test to compare the relative change between intervention and control districts. RESULTS: Coverage increased from survey one to three for 24 of 32 comparisons. Difference-in-Differences tests revealed that intervention districts exhibited significantly greater change in four of six vertical strategies (insecticide treated bed-nets and indoor residual spraying), one of six treatment-seeking behaviours and four of 12 health worker capacity indicators. The control district displayed greater improvement than two intervention districts for one health worker capacity indicator. One district with poor management did not improve. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, LQAS results appeared to support district managers to increase coverage in underperforming areas, especially for vertical strategies in the presence of diligent managers.