Decomposition of Changes in Malaria Status among Children under Five years: A case of Uganda and Kenya

Abstract

Abstract This study decomposed the changes in malaria status among children under five years of Uganda and Kenya. The study used secondary data drawn from the Uganda Malaria Indicator Survey 2014–2015 and Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey 2015. A nonlinear multivariate decomposition logit regression model was used to allow the breakdown of differences in malaria status in children under the age of five years old between Uganda and Kenya into those due to differences in observable characteristics (endowments) and those due to different effects of these characteristics (coefficients). The overall difference in characteristics of children below the age of five years old contributed 31.07% of the differences in malaria status between Uganda and Kenya. In addition, the category of residence of a child under the age of five years old contributed 20% to the overall malaria Status in children under the age of five years old between the two countries. The study recommends that children under the age of five years are among the most vulnerable to malaria infection as they have not yet developed any immunity to the disease. The government of Uganda and Kenya should widely encourage children in this age bracket to sleep under long-lasting insecticidal nets and they should put in place, prompt diagnosis and effective treatment of malaria infections in all health facilities country-wide.