COMCEC
Malnutrition in the OIC Member
Countries: A Trap for Poverty
All All All All
OIC non-O IC D ifferen ce
D ev elop ing
OIC
D evelop ing
Non-OIC
D ifferen ce
c o u n trie s c o u n trie s in m e a n s c o u n trie s co u n trie s in m e a n s
H ealth e x p e n s e s (% o f
GDP) 5 .6 7 .1 - 1 6 *** 5 .8 7 .0 _ 1 2 ***
H o sp ital b e d s (p e r
1 , 0 0 0 p e o p le ) 1 . 8 3 .5 - 1 7 *** 1 . 8 3 .4 - 1 6 ***
L ifetim e risk o f
m a te rn a l d e a th (% ) 1.3 0 . 6 0 . 8 *** 1 .5 0 . 6 0 .9 * * *
Im p ro v e d sa n ita tio n
(% ) 6 2 .1 7 5 .5 - 1 3 .4 * * * 5 8 .3 7 3 .9 - 1 5 .6 * * *
Im p ro v e d d rink in g
w a te r (% )
8 1 .8 9 0 .5 - 8 7 *** 8 0 .2 9 0 .0 -9 7 ***
L ow b irth w e ig h t
b ab ies (% ) 1 3 .6 9 .8 3 .7 * * * 1 4 .1 9 .9 4 .2 * * *
C o v erag e v itam in A
supp . (% ) 6 9 .9 5 8 .0 1 1 9 ** 6 9 .2 5 8 .0 1 1 .2 **
Societalfactors
CPIA G end er E q u ality
In d e x (m a x = 6 )
3 .2 3 .4 -0 .2 ** 3 .2 3 .4 - 0 . 2 **
Gini In d ex 3 9 .3 3 9 .5 -0 . 2 3 9 .3 3 9 .7 -0 .3
Source: authors' calculations based on the World Bank Indicators.
One ca n s e e th a t fo r a w id e a r r a y o f fa c to rs , OIC c o u n trie s fa re less w ell th a n non-O IC
c o u n trie s. T h is rem a in s tr u e w h e n h ig h -in com e c o u n trie s a re e x clu d e d from th e c om p a riso n s.
OIC c o u n trie s a re sign ifican tly p o o re r, an d d isp lay lo w e r lev els o f e d u c a tio n th a n non-O IC
c o u n trie s. H ealth in d ic a to rs a re also sign ifican tly p o o r e r in OIC c o u n trie s th a n in th e r e s t o f th e
w o rld . F o r in sta n ce , th e p re v a le n c e o f o p e n d e fe ca tio n is tw o -th ird h ig h e r in OIC c o u n trie s
th a n in d e v e lo p in g non-O IC c o u n trie s. And th e re a re a b o u t tw o -th ird few e r c om m u n ity h ealth
w o r k e r s in th e fo rm e r th a n th e la tte r g rou p . T h e h e a lth e x p e n d itu re s a s a s h a re o f GDP a re
a lm o s t 2 0 % low e r in OIC c o u n trie s , and th e n um b e r o f h o sp ita l b ed s in OIC c o u n trie s is a lm o s t
h a lf o f th a t o f d e v e lo p in g non-O IC c o u n trie s. And sig n ifican t d iffe re n ce s also e x is t in te rm s o f
e.g. s a lt io d isa tio n , im p ro v e d sa n ita tio n and d rin k in g w a te r. T h e d ia g n o stic o f c om p a ra tiv e ly
w e a k h e a th s e c to r s in OIC c o u n trie s w a s a lre a d y m a d e in a r e p o r t b y SESRIC ( 2 0 1 3 ) .
OIC c o u n trie s also re c e iv e le s s rain fall, h av e a h ig h e r fo od d eficit, an d h a v e a h ig h e r g e n d e r
in e q u a lity lev el th a n non-O IC co u n trie s . H ow e v e r, th e c o v e ra g e o f v itam in A su p p lem e n ta tio n
is sign ifican tly h ig h er, th e d ia b e te s p re v a le n c e is sign ifican tly low e r, an d th e g row th in food
p ro d u c tio n h a s b e e n c o n s id e ra b ly h ig h e r in OIC c o u n trie s th a n in th e r e s t o f th e d ev elop in g
w o rld .
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