BackgroundSelf-reported health is a widely used measure of health status across individuals. As the ageing population increases, the health of the elderly also becomes of growing concern. The elderly go through life facing social, economic and financial hardships. These hardships are known to affect the health status of people as they age. The purpose of this study is to assess social and health related factors of self-reported health among the elderly in Ghana.MethodsA multivariate regression analysis in form of a binary and ordinal logistic regression were used to determine the association between socioeconomic, demographic and health related factors, on self-reported health. The data used for this study was drawn from the World Health Organization (WHO) Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1.ResultsIn total, out of 2613 respondent, 579 (20.1%) rated their health status as poor and 2034 (79.9%) as good. The results showed that the odds of reporting poor health was 2.5 times higher among the old-old compared to the young old. The elderly with one or more than one chronic condition had the odds of 1.6 times and 2 times respectively, of reporting poor health. Engaging in mild to moderate exercise increased the chances of reporting poor health by 1.8 times. The elderly who had never worked in a lifetime were 2 times more likely to report poor health. In the same way, residents of Eastern and Western parts of Ghana were 2 times more likely to report poor health compared to those in the Upper West region. Respondents with functional limitations and disabilities were 3.6 times and 2.4 times respectively, more likely to report poor health. On the other hand, the odds of reporting poor health was 29, 36 and 27% less among respondents in the highest income quintiles, former users of tobacco and those satisfied with certain aspects of life respectively. Also, current alcohol users were 41% less likely to report poor health.ConclusionThe health status of the elderly is to an extent determined by the circumstances in which they are born, grow and live. The findings suggest that addressing social issues faced by individuals in youthful age will go a long way to achieving good health in the future. People with physical limitations and disabilities are most vulnerable to unmet healthcare needs and support system from government, policy makers and family.

The feasibility of non-pharmacological public health interventions (NPIs) such as physical distancing or isolation at home to prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission in low-resource countries is unknown. Household survey data from 54 African countries were used to investigate the feasibility of SARS-CoV-2 NPIs in low-resource settings. Across the 54 countries, approximately 718 million people lived in households with ⩾6 individuals at home (median percentage of at-risk households 56% (95% confidence interval (CI), 51% to 60%)). Approximately 283 million people lived in households where ⩾3 people slept in a single room (median percentage of at-risk households 15% (95% CI, 13% to 19%)). An estimated 890 million Africans lack on-site water (71% (95% CI, 62% to 80%)), while 700 million people lacked in-home soap/washing facilities (56% (95% CI, 42% to 73%)). The median percentage of people without a refrigerator in the home was 79% (95% CI, 67% to 88%), while 45% (95% CI, 39% to 52%) shared toilet facilities with other households. Individuals in low-resource settings have substantial obstacles to implementing NPIs for mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission. These populations urgently need to be prioritised for coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination to prevent disease and to contain the global pandemic.

Background: The global poverty profile shows that Africa and Asia bear the highest burden of multidimensional child poverty. Child survival and development therefore depend on socioeconomic and environmental factors that surround a child.The aim of this paper is to measure multidimensional child poverty and underpin what drives it among children aged 5 to 18 years in a resource poor region of Burkina Faso. Methods: Using primary data collected from a cross sectional study of 722 households in the Mouhoun region of Burkina Faso, the Alkire-Foster methodology was applied to estimate and decompose child poverty among children aged 5-18 years. Seven broad dimensions guided by the child poverty literature, data availability and the country's SDGs were used. A binary logistic regression model was applied to identify drivers of multidimensional child poverty in the region. Results: The highest prevalence of deprivations were recorded in water and sanitation (91%), information and leisure (89%) followed by education (83%). Interestingly, at k = 3 (the sum of weighted indicators that a child must be deprived to be considered multidimensionally poor), about 97% of children are deprived in at least three of the seven dimensions. At k = 4 to k = 6, between 88.7 and 30.9% of children were equally classified as suffering from multidimensional poverty. The odds of multidimensional poverty were reduced in children who belonged to households with a formally educated mother (OR = 0.49) or stable sources of income (OR = 0.31, OR = 0.33). The results equally revealed that being an adolescent (OR = 0.67), residing in the urban area of Boromo (OR = 0.13) and rural area of Safané (OR = 0.61) reduced the odds of child poverty. On the other hand, child poverty was highest among children from the rural area of Yé (OR = 2.74), polygamous households (OR = 1.47, OR = 5.57 and OR = 1.96), households with an adult head suffering from a longstanding illness (OR = 1.61), households with debts (OR = 1.01) and households with above five number of children/woman (OR = 1.49). Conclusion: Child poverty is best determined by using a multidimensional approach that involves an interplay of indicators and dimensions, bearing in mind its causation.

In Ghana, the ageing population is growing at a fast pace amidst challenging socioeconomic environment. As such, the health of elderly persons in Ghana is of emerging concern and of high priority to the Government. In this study, we seek to measure health inequality among elderly persons in Ghana to determine its existence and explore the factors driving it. Data for the study were drawn from the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE Wave 1) and analyzed using STATA and a Distributive Analysis Stata Package (DASP) installed in STATA. Health inequality was measured using concentration curves and concentration index (CI). Furthermore, a regression-based approach was used to determine factors associated with health inequality and their estimated contributions to health inequality. The CI for poor SRH was −0.059 indicating greatest poor health among the poor. The highest contributors to health inequality were presence of at least a chronic condition (63.4%), followed by the age group 70 years and above (26.6%), being single (13.9%), poor (3.9%) and uneducated (0.3%). The probability of reporting poor health was higher with increasing age (Coeff = 0.27, p < 0.05), having at least a chronic condition (Coeff = 0.34, p < 0.05), being single (Coeff = 0.14, p < 0.05) and being poor (Coeff = 0.17, p < 0.05). The results show that health inequality exists among the elderly in Ghana and that poor health was greatest among the poor. Socioeconomic, demographic and health related factors are associated with health inequality.