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This study explores the association between childhood immunization and gender inequality at the national level. Data for the study include annual country-level estimates of immunization among children aged 12–23 months, indicators of gender inequality, and associated factors for up to 165 countries from 2010–2019. The study examined the association between gender inequality, as measured by the gender development index and the gender inequality index, and two key outcomes: prevalence of children who received no doses of the DTP vaccine (zero-dose children) and children who received the third dose of the DTP vaccine (DTP3 coverage). Unadjusted and adjusted fractional logit regression models were used to identify the association between immunization and gender inequality. Gender inequality, as measured by the Gender Development Index, was positively and significantly associated with the proportion of zero-dose children (high inequality AOR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.13–2.30). Consistently, full DTP3 immunization was negatively and significantly associated with gender inequality (high inequality AOR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.46–0.86). These associations were robust to the use of an alternative gender inequality measure (the Gender Inequality Index) and were consistent across a range of model specifications controlling for demographic, economic, education, and health-related factors. Gender inequality at the national level is predictive of childhood immunization coverage, highlighting that addressing gender barriers is imperative to achieve universal coverage in immunization and to ensure that no child is left behind in routine vaccination.

RESUMENLa población inmigrante en general utiliza con menor frecuencia que la autóctona la mayoría de los servicios sanitarios. En la frecuentación de las urgencias generales no se encuentran diferencias significativas entre autóctonos e inmigrantes. Sin embargo la percepción de los profesionales que atienden las urgencias es la mayor utilización de este servicio por la población inmigrante. Quizás esto sea debido a la dificultad idiomática y de compresión cultural puede requerir más esfuerzo y más tiempo en la atención al paciente inmigrante.El médico que atiende a población inmigrante, así como a turistas y cooperantes españoles, debe familiarizarse con una serie de patologías, algunas de las cuales pueden resultar excepcionales entre la población autóc-tona, pero que son endémicas en algunos de los países de procedencia de la población inmigrante, frecuentemente debido a su menor desarrollo socioeconómico.Algunos aspectos a tener en cuenta en la atención al paciente inmigrante pueden ser entre ellos el evitar el riesgo de minimizar las quejas psíquicas y achacarlas todas al desarraigo, o si se ha de prescribir una dieta o algunos fármacos, tener en cuenta el tipo de alimentación del país del paciente y las creencias religiosas.El nivel de respeto y la capacidad de detección de las diferencias religiosas o culturales en relación con el cuidado de la salud, es una tarea fundamental que los profesionales sanitarios deben asumir con el mayor compromiso para lograr una atención culturalmente apropiada ante la diversidad.Palabras clave. Urgencias. Inmigración. Multiculturalidad. Enfermedades importadas. Enfermedades tropicales. ABSTRACTThe immigrant population in general uses the health services less frequently than the native population. No significant differences are found between immigrants and natives in the use of emergency services. However, the perception of professionals who attend to the emergency services is that there is a greater use of these services by the immigrant population. Perhaps this is because difficulties of language and cultural understanding might require more effort and time in the care given to the immigrant patient.The doctor, who treats the immigrant population, as well as tourists and Spanish overseas voluntary workers, must become familiar with a series of pathologies, some of which might be exceptional among the native Spanish population, but which are endemic on some of the countries of origin of the immigrant population, frequently due to their lower socio-economic development.Some aspects to bear in mind in treating the immigrant patient might be as follows: avoiding the risk of minimising psychic complaints and explaining them away to uprootedness; if a diet or medicine is to be prescribed, the type of food and religious beliefs of the patient's country should be taken into account. The level of respect and the capacity to detect religious and cultural differences in relation to health care are fundamental tasks that the health professionals must assume with the greatest commitme...

Background Monitoring health inequalities is an important task for health research and policy, to uncover who is being left behind – and where – and to inform effective and equitable policies and programmes to tackle existing inequities. The choice of which measure to use to monitor and analyse health inequalities is thereby not trivial. This article explores a new measure of socioeconomic deprivation status (SDS) to monitor health inequalities. Methods The SDS measure was constructed using the Alkire-Foster method. It includes eight indicators across two equally weighted dimensions (education and living standards) and specifies a four-level gradient of socioeconomic deprivation at the household-level. We conducted four exercises to examine the value-added of the proposed SDS measure, using Demographic and Health Surveys data. First, we examined the discriminatory power of the new measure when applied to outcomes in four select reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH) indicators across six countries: skilled birth attendance, stunting, U5MR, and DTP3 immunisation. Then, we analysed the behaviour and association of the new SDS measure vis-à-vis the DHS Wealth Index, including chi-squared test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Third, we analysed the robustness of the SDS measure results to changes in its structure, using pairwise comparisons and Kendal Tau-b rank correlation. Finally, we illustrated some of the advantageous properties of the new measure, disaggregation and decomposition, on Haitian data. Results 1) Higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation are generally consistently associated with lower levels of achievements in the RMNCH indicators across countries. 2) 87% of all pairwise rank comparisons across a range of SDS measure structures were robust. 3) SDS and DHS Wealth Index are associated, but with considerable cross-country variation, highlighting their complementarity. 4) Haitian households in rural areas experienced, on average, more severe socioeconomic deprivation as well as lower levels of RMNCH achievement than urban households. Conclusions The proposed SDS measure adds analytical possibilities to the health inequality monitoring literature, in line with ethically and conceptually well-founded notions of absolute, multidimensional disadvantage. In addition, it allows for breakdown by its dimensions and components, which may facilitate nuanced analyses of health inequality, its correlates, and determinants.