Impact of wealth status on health outcomes in Pakistan.

Maternal and childhood morbidity and mortality are high in Pakistan and health disparities exist. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey database 2006-07 was performed. There was an excess of 25 neonatal 34 infant and 41 under-five deaths per 1000 live births in the poorest quintile of wealth index compared with the richest. Women in the richest quintile had a 35% 38% and 20% higher probability of getting prenatal care delivery by skilled provider and emergency obstetric care respectively. Pakistan needs to enhance social equity so development benefits can accrue to the underprivileged by introducing social protection interventions so that those in the informal sector are not excluded from accessing health care scaling-up poverty reduction strategies and promoting intersectoral action. This study assesses the independent impact of wealth status as determined by a validated index on health outcomes in Pakistan.