Addressing access barriers to health services: an analytical framework for selecting appropriate interventions in low-income Asian countries

While World Health Organization member countries embraced the concept of universal coverage as early as 2005, few low-income countries have yet achieved the objective. This is mainly due to numerous barriers that hamper access to needed health services. In this paper we provide an overview of the va...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health policy and planning 2012-07, Vol.27 (4), p.288-300
Main Authors: Jacobs, Bart, Ir, Por, Bigdeli, Maryam, Annear, Peter Leslie, Van Damme, Wim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceptability
Access to health care
Asia
Asians
Cambodia
Developing Countries
Health administration
Health care
Health care access
Health economics
Health insurance
Health policy
Health services
Health Services Accessibility - organization & administration
Interventionism
Interventions
LDCs
Low income
Low income countries
Low income groups
Low income people
Medical service
Organizational Case Studies
Original articles
Planning
Public health
Studies
Supply & demand
World Health Organization
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Summary:While World Health Organization member countries embraced the concept of universal coverage as early as 2005, few low-income countries have yet achieved the objective. This is mainly due to numerous barriers that hamper access to needed health services. In this paper we provide an overview of the various dimensions of barriers to access to health care in low-income countries (geographical access, availability, affordability and acceptability) and outline existing interventions designed to overcome these barriers. These barriers and consequent interventions are arranged in an analytical framework, which is then applied to two case studies from Cambodia. The aim is to illustrate the use of the framework in identifying the dimensions of access barriers that have been tackled by the interventions. The findings suggest that a combination of interventions is required to tackle specific access barriers but that their effectiveness can be influenced by contextual factors. It is also necessary to address demand-side and supply-side barriers concurrently. The framework can be used both to identify interventions that effectively address particular access barriers and to analyse why certain interventions fail to tackle specific barriers.
ISSN:0268-1080
1460-2237
DOI:10.1093/heapol/czr038