Equity in Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health Care Utilization in Ethiopia

The variations in the improving trend in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) between December 2008 and December 2010 are observed according to women’s age, education and distance from a health facility. Although the improving trends in the RMNCH indicators, for the most part, are equitable across age, education and distance to a health facility, there were disparities in 2008 that remained so in 2010. Many of the RMNCH indicators are lower among women who are between ages 15 to 19 years than those in the age 35 to 49 years, lower among women with no education compared to those with secondary or higher education, and lower among women who live more than an hour from a health facility than those who live within 30 minutes from one. The disparities are mostly due to program uptake rather than differential in program targeting by the HEP. Nevertheless, strategies need to be adopted to overcome the existing disparities.