The impact of access to health facilities on health care use and health status

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01602
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07040:Economic policy-related
• Research Institution: National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
• Principal Investigator: Chikako Yamauchi 政策研究大学院大学, 政策研究科, 教授 (50583374)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 医療施設 / 医療サービス / 妊婦死亡率

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims at investigating the impact of access to medical infrastructure on health care utilization and health status, thereby providing the implication for efficient development of the system of health facilities. Given the high maternal and infant mortality rates in developing countries, it is important to increase the utilization of health care such as maternal care and delivery at formal facilities. However, the utilization rates of those services are low because facilities providing those services are considered to be too far. Evidence, nevertheless, is lacking on how much the utilization rates increase when access to health facilities improves. This study fills this gap by examining the effects of the proximity to the nearest health facilities by type on various health services and health status, using the panel data on all the health facilities in Uganda that span over the two decades since 2000.

Free Research Field

開発経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

２０２０年においてもなお、２８万人以上の女性が妊娠期間中または分娩直後に死亡した。妊婦死亡率を下げるには妊婦健診等の医療サービス利用を増やすことが重要とされているが、途上国における効率的な医療インフラ構築に関する実証結果は乏しい。本研究では、医療機関への距離が縮まると、医療サービス需要、健康状態及び出産率が変化するか、またもしそうなら、大規模な病院と小規模なクリニックへの距離が縮まった場合では異なった効果が見られるか等について検証し、政策的インプリケーションを導く。