Poverty and Survival Prospects ofVietnamese Children under Doi Moi

Wagstaff, Adam ; Nguyen, Nga Nguyet

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

关键词: AGE GROUPS;    ANTENATAL CARE;    ANTENATAL VISITS;    ASBESTOS;    CENSUS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2832
RP-ID  :  WPS2832

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

By international standards, and givenits relatively low per capita income, Vietnam has achievedsubstantial reductions in, and low levels of, infant andunder-five mortality. The authors review existing evidenceand provide new evidence on whether, under the economicliberalization program known as Doi Moi, this reduction inchild mortality has been sustained. They conclude that ithas, but that the gains have been concentrated among thebetter-off. As a result, socioeconomic inequalities in childsurvival are evident in Vietnam-a change from the early1990s when none were apparent. The authors develop survivalmodels to find the causes of this differential decline inchild mortality, and conclude that a number of factors havebeen at work, including reductions among the poor (but notamong the better-off) in coverage of health services and inwomen's educational attainment. They argue that if theexperience of the late 1990s is a guide to the future, thelack of progress among the poor will jeopardizeVietnam's chances of achieving the internationaldevelopment goals for child mortality. The authors examinevarious policy scenarios, including expanding coverage ofhealth services, water and sanitation, and find that suchmeasures, while useful, will have only a limited effect onthe mortality of poor children. They find that programsaimed at narrowing the gap between the poor and better-offmay have large beneficial effects on the variousdeterminants of child survival.