Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of IJERPH aims to present a collection of studies related to the estimation and reduction of the disparity gap in maternal and child health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

Despite considerable progress in reaching the SDG3 targets for maternal and child health worldwide, the disparity gap has increased. Globally, in these cohorts, most deaths take place in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, and a high proportion of these can be attributed to preventable or treatable causes. While undernutrition and poverty are often underlying causes, many low- and middle-income countries are now also faced with a simultaneous rise in childhood and maternal obesity which impacts pregnancy complications as well as the risk of the offspring developing (non-communicable diseases) NCDs later in life.

Within low- and middle-income countries, health indicators vary considerably between disadvantaged and wealthier population groups as well as between urban and rural areas. However, with fast urbanization rates in many low- and middle-income countries, the urban health advantage is disappearing. Health status has become far worse for mothers, newborn babies, and children living in urban slums compared with non-slum populations. Many women and children do not have access to high-quality essential care, which is important to ensure good maternal health and healthy growth of the child.

Although there is considerable evidence about what works in terms of improving maternal, newborn, and child health, effective, high-quality interventions often do not reach those who need them most. While national policies and guidelines are often in place, commonly, these are not effectively implemented at the local level and often do not reach those at highest risk of maternal, newborn, and child death. Additionally, externally funded health interventions that are shown to be effective are rarely adopted, scaled, and sustained within country health systems.

For this Special Edition of IJERPH, we welcome authors to submit high-quality primary research articles that address the topic of bridging the ''knowledge-do'' gap to improve maternal and child health in low- and middle-income countries. In particular, we welcome studies related to health systems, policy research, and implementation science with a focus on the period of (pre)pregnancy until five years of life.

Possible themes include (but are not restricted to)

• Differences across geographic areas (including rural and urban areas);
• Issues related to accessing health services and medicines/vaccines across the reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health continuum of care;
• Initiatives aimed at improving the quality of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and health services;
• Evidence on the scaling-up of processes and sustainability of existing evidence-based interventions introduced in new contexts;
• Integrated population, health, and environmental approaches to address the needs and rights of vulnerable communities;
• Policy analyses on using evidence in decision-making and practice.

Dr. Regien Biesma
Dr. Neil Spicer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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