Estimating the Impact of Health Programmes on the Anthropometric Indicators for Bangladeshi Women and Children Using Cross-Sectional Data

In this paper we investigate the impact of health related programmes on health outcomes of women and children by applying the method of difference-in-differences on repeated cross-sectional datasets. Health outcomes are measured using an anthropometric indicator: weight-for-height z-score. We find a positive impact, due to financial protection and social safety net programmes in a seasonally famine-affected area in Bangladesh, on the health outcome of children. We also find that the BRAC Healthcare Programme (BHP), a healthcare programme run by a reputable NGO, BRAC, has a positive impact on the health outcome of its members living in urban slums. We apply a simple decomposition approach to measuring the contributions of the programmes in lowering or increasing the inequalities in the distribution of outcomes and find that none of the programmes analysed has made the inequalities in health worse. Our key objective in this study is to show that, in developing countries, where programme-specific data are rare, using broad data like the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys (MICS) etc. it is possible to identify relevant groups and periods in order to assess the performances of several government and non-government programmes.