Health Inequality in Post-Socialist States: Liberalization and Regional Disparity in Health in Tanzania

Moshi O. Herman, Brown University

Tanzania is one of the countries which transitioned from a centrally planned economy to an open-market system beginning in the late 1980s. The manner by which transitions to open markets affect social equality and equity remains a contentious topic. This paper uses demographic data on population health trends in Tanzania to shed light on the relationship between liberalization and social inequality across space. The preliminary analysis show a differential decline in infant mortality across regions with varying degrees of contact with liberalization policy, which is measured by regional intensity of privatization and regional concentration of collective (ujamaa) villages prior to liberalization. The continuing analysis will use census data from 1988 and 2002, which is more representative at the district-level, to test further the results and conclusions drawn from the current analysis, which is based on Demographic and health Surveys (DHS).