[Regionalisation of the Millennium Development Goals: markers for assessing child health in Algeria].

Abstract

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) include measurable, quantifiable objectives that facilitate the monitoring of their progress and help focus the work of local authorities intended to improve the living conditions of their populations. Since the adoption of the Declaration of the Millennium in September 2000, Algeria has made considerable progress, with excellent scores for some objectives but substantial delays for others. We also note that even when national averages provide a satisfactory impression, they often hide striking inequalities. This work is thus an attempt to evaluate progress for one of the eight objectives on a less aggregate scale that should permit a more realistic assessment. We thus restrict this article to a single aspect child health. Successive surveys have all confirmed substantial achievements on a national scale. These improvements nonetheless remain insufficient in light of the available resources. For example, the infant mortality rate, one of the most valuable child health indicators, decreased from 46.8 per thousand in 1990 to 25.5 per thousand in 2008. Nonetheless, the same studies showed the persistence of inequalities between geographic areas, urban and rural areas, and between sexes. Additional efforts are thus necessary if we are to reach the objective of reducing the mortality rate of children under 5 years by two-thirds. Results will also be more effective if healthy policy is regionalized, especially through the promotion of the implementation of this goal at the local level.