Unmasking inequalities: Sub-national maternal and child mortality data from two urban slums in Lagos, Nigeria tells the story.
Erin AnastasiEkanem EkanemOlivia HillAgnes Adebayo OluwakemiOluwatosin AbayomiAndrea BernasconiPublished in: PloS one (2017)
The maternal mortality ratio found in these urban slum populations within Lagos is extremely high, compared to the figure estimated for Lagos State of 545 per 100,000 live births. Urgent attention is required to address these neglected and vulnerable neighborhoods. Efforts should be invested in obtaining data from poor, marginalized, and hard-to-reach populations in order to identify pockets of marginalization needing additional resources and tailored approaches to guarantee equitable treatment and timely access to quality health services for vulnerable groups. This study demonstrates the importance of sub-regional, disaggregated data to identify and redress inequities that exist among poor, remote, vulnerable populations-as in the urban slums of Lagos.