Person: Raju, Dhushyanth
Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, World Bank
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Education, Health, Nutrition, Labor, Poverty, Risk
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Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, World Bank
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Last updated: September 19, 2024
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Publication Health and Nutrition in Urban Bangladesh: Social Determinants and Health Sector Governance(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2018) Frere, Jean-Jacques; Govindaraj, Ramesh; Raju, Dhushyanth; Secci, Federica; Chowdhury, SadiaUrbanization is occurring at a rapid pace in Bangladesh, accompanied by the proliferation of slum settlements, whose residents have special health needs given the adverse social, economic, and public environmental conditions they face. Over the past 45 years, the country’s health and nutrition policies and programs have focused largely on rural health services. Consequently, equitable access of urban populations—particularly the urban poor—to quality health and nutrition services has emerged as a major development issue. However, the knowledge base on urban health and nutrition in Bangladesh remains weak. To address the knowledge gap, Health and Nutrition in Urban Bangladesh: Social Determinants and Health Sector Governance examines the health and nutrition challenges in urban Bangladesh—looking at socioeconomic determinants in general and at health sector governance in particular. Using a mixed methods approach, the study identifies critical areas such as financing, regulation, service delivery, and public environmental health, among others that require policy attention. The study also proposes specific actions within and outside the health sector to address the issues, providing guidance on their sequencing and the specific responsibilities of government agencies and other actors. This study should be useful to policy makers and practitioners working on urban health and nutrition issues in Bangladesh and in other low- and middle-income countries.Publication Cities, Slums, and Child Nutrition in Bangladesh(Wiley, 2018-11-09) Raju, Dhushyanth; Nguyen, Quynh Thu; Govindaraj, RameshThis study uses novel household survey data that are representative of Bangladesh's large cities, and of slum and non-slum areas within the cities, to investigate the effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on child nutrition status in 2013. The study also decomposes the difference in mean child nutrition status between slum and non-slum areas in 2013, and the increase in mean child nutrition status in slum and non-slum areas from 2006 to 2013. Mother's education attainment and household wealth largely explain the cross‐sectional difference and intertemporal change in mean child nutrition status. Although positive in some cases, the effects of maternal and child health services, and potential health‐protective household amenities, on child nutrition status differ by the type of health facility, household amenity, and urban area (slum or non-slum). Focusing on nutrition‐sensitive programs for slum residents and the urban poor is consistent with the results. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions. https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing/self-archiving.htmlPublication Feeding of Infants and Young Children in South Asia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-11) Torlesse, Harriet; Raju, DhushyanthPoor breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices predict child stunting and wasting in South Asia, suggesting that initiatives to end undernutrition in the region should focus on improving the diets of young children. This review of the literature finds that South Asia has made relatively good progress in improving breastfeeding practices compared with other regions, but the lack of diversity in complementary foods and low frequency of feeding continue to be problems. Children who are most at risk of experiencing poor feeding include those who are born small, have younger mothers, and live in poorer households or in communities with less access to, or lower uptake of, primary health services. Initiatives to improve feeding practices have not produced substantial improvement, particularly in complementary feeding, because such efforts have lacked the coverage, intensity, comprehensiveness, and continuity needed. Policy, legal, and program actions to protect, promote, and support recommended feeding practices should be informed by situation analyses and formative research on context-specific drivers of poor practices. The actions should involve multiple sectors and stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, communities, and households.Publication The Financial Risk Reduction Provided by Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-06) Raju, DhushyanthThis paper estimates the monetary value of financial risk reduction associated with membership in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme, based on recent national household survey data. The paper compares the risk premiums for distributions of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures with and without insurance and find that the difference is small. This does not mean that the National Health Insurance Scheme has no value to members. Indeed, the findings show that the insured pay significantly less for healthcare than the uninsured on average. But that average reduction does not translate into a reduced spread of consumption net of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures. Thus, the benefit of the National Health Insurance Scheme is entirely a transfer benefit, not a reduction in financial risk.Publication Child Undernutrition in Pakistan: What Do We Know?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-05) D'Souza, Ritika; Raju, DhushyanthPakistan has an extraordinarily high and persistent level of child undernutrition. To effectively tackle the problem, the design of public policies and programs needs to be based on evidence. Toward this end, this paper presents a narrative review of the available empirical and qualitative literature on child undernutrition in Pakistan. It summarizes evidence for the country on, among other things, food consumption, spatial variation and trends in undernutrition rates, levels and effects of generally theorized determinants of undernutrition, and effects of various interventions on undernutrition. Based on patterns revealed in and insights gained from the cumulative evidence, the review lays out considerations and suggestions for further data collection and research, and for policy and practice.