Women’s autonomy in household expenditure impacts positively on child health
Women in northern Ghana whose decision-making power in major household expenditure is subjugated to people other than their husbands have detrimental child health outcomes, a study has revealed.
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The study, titled, “The effects of female autonomy on childhood survival: A gender analysis of health decision making in a rural region of Northern Ghana”, was conducted in the Upper East Region.
Mr Fabian S. Achana of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, who made this known at the 12th INDEPTH Scientific Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa, said female empowerment positively correlated with health seeking behaviour and childhood survival.
However, he said in settings largely characterised as male dominant, women often lacked autonomy in decision making regarding their own health and that of their children.
According to the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), 2008, about 8.8 million children die annually worldwide, before their fifth birthday, while under-five mortality in Ghana is estimated to be 80 per 1,000 live births.
The study
The objective of the study, he said, was to estimate the effect of female autonomy on child survival.
The data for the study was from a cross sectional household survey of 5511 women aged 15-49 years in seven districts in the Upper East Region. The analysis of the study was limited to 2194 most recent children born between 2007 and 2011.
The study is one of several thematic analysis being done on the baseline survey of the Ghana Essential Health Interventions Project (GEHIP) and sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF).
Mr Achana said the study showed that children born to women whose decision-making power in major household expenditure was subjugated to someone else other than themselves or their spouses were 2.7 times more likely to die before they attained age five compared to women who independently or jointly with their spouses made decisions on major household expenditure.
Recommendations
The study, therefore, recommended the promotion of spousal communication on household expenditure, which will likely contribute to reducing childhood fatalities and accelerate efforts to attain Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 that relates to reducing child mortality.
Mr Achana also said considerable amount of evidence existed to show that investment in women improved child survival and there was the need to empower women through education and economically to make them more independent to take life-saving decisions regarding their own health and that of their children.
Daily Graphic/Ghana