Density versus Quality in Health Care Provision : Using Household Data to Make Budgetary Choices in Ethiopia
Usage of health facilities in Ethiopia is among the lowest in the world; raising usage rates is probably critical for improving health outcomes. The government has diagnosed the principal problem as the lack of primary health facilities and is devo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/05/17741856/density-versus-quality-health-care-provision-using-household-data-make-budgetary-choices-ethiopia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17208 |
| Summary: | Usage of health facilities in Ethiopia
is among the lowest in the world; raising usage rates is
probably critical for improving health outcomes. The
government has diagnosed the principal problem as the lack
of primary health facilities and is devoting a large share
of the health budget to building more facilities. But
household data suggest that usage of health facilities is
sensitive not just to the distance to the nearest facility
but also to the quality of health care provided. If the
quality of weak facilities were raised to that currently
provided by the majority of facilities in Ethiopia, usage
would rise significantly. National data suggest that given
the current density and quality of service provision,
additional expenditure on improving the quality of service
delivery will be more cost-effective than increasing the
density of service provision. The budget allocation rule
presented in the article can help local policymakers make
decisions about how to allocate funds between improving the
quality of care and decreasing the distance to the nearest
health care facility. |
|---|