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The impact of adult deaths on children's health in Northwestern Tanzania

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  • Ainsworth, Martha
  • Semali, Innocent

Abstract

The AIDS epidemic is dramatically increasing mortality of adults in many Sub-Saharan African countries, with potentially severe consequences for surviving family members. Until now, most of these impacts had not been quantified. The authors examine the impact of adult mortality in Tanzania on three measures of health among children under five: morbidity, height for age, and weight for height. The children hit hardest by the death of a parent or other adult are those in the poorest households, those with uneducated parents, and those with the least access to health care. The authors also show how much three important health interventions-immunization against measles, and rehydration salts, and access to health care-can do to mitigate the impact of adult mortality. These programs disproportionately improve health outcomes among the poorest children and, within that group, among children affected by adult mortality. In Tanzania there is so much poverty, and child health indicators are so low that these interventions should be targeted as much as possible to the poorest households, where the children hit hardest by adult mortality are most likely to be found. (Conceivably, the targeting strategy for middle-income countries with severe AIDS epidemics, such as Thailand, or countries with less poverty and better child health indicators might be different.)

Suggested Citation

  • Ainsworth, Martha & Semali, Innocent, 2000. "The impact of adult deaths on children's health in Northwestern Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2266, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2266
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ainsworth, Martha & Dayton, Julia, 2001. "The impact of the AIDS epidemic on the health of the elderly in Tanzania," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2649, The World Bank.
    2. Beegle, Kathleen & Filmer, Deon & Stokes, Andrew & Tiererova, Lucia, 2010. "Orphanhood and the Living Arrangements of Children in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1727-1746, December.
    3. Alexander A. Weinreb & Patrick Gerland & Peter Fleming, 2008. "Hotspots and Coldspots: Household and village-level variation in orphanhood prevalence in rural Malawi," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(32), pages 1217-1248.
    4. Kadiyala, Suneetha & Quisumbing, Agnes & Rogers, Beatrice & Webb, Patrick, 2009. "The Impact of Prime Age Adult Mortality on Child Survival and Growth in Rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 1116-1128, June.
    5. Mark Lee & Elizabeth Heger Boyle, 2021. "Disciplinary practices among orphaned children in Sub-Saharan Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(2), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Deininger, Klaus & Garcia, Marito & Subbarao, K., 2003. "AIDS-Induced Orphanhood as a Systemic Shock: Magnitude, Impact, and Program Interventions in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1201-1220, July.
    7. Kidman, Rachel & Hanley, James A. & Subramanian, S.V. & Foster, Geoff & Heymann, Jody, 2010. "AIDS in the family and community: The impact on child health in Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(5), pages 966-974, September.
    8. Bose-Duker, Theophiline & Henry, Michael & Strobl, Eric, 2021. "Child fostering and the educational outcomes of Jamaican children," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Cally Ardington & Megan Little, 2016. "The Impact of Maternal Death on Children's Health and Education Outcomes," SALDRU Working Papers 184, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    10. Ndirangu, Murugi & Sachs, Sonia Ehrlich & Palm, Cheryl & Deckelbaum, Richard J., 2013. "HIV affected households in Western Kenya experience greater food insecurity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 11-17.
    11. Ainsworth, Martha & Dayton, Julia, 2003. "The Impact of the AIDS Epidemic on the Health of Older Persons in Northwestern Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 131-148, January.

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