Physical accessibility to government health facilities and health outcomes: a study of selected states based on NFHS-2, 1998-99

Kanwaljeet Virdi, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Physical accessibility to medical care remains highly variable, an inevitable consequence of dispersed populations and medical services. Distance plays a prominent role in the decision-making process of the family in the utilization of the best available health care. Based on the data from India’s second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2), this study focuses on the affect of distance on the utilization of various health facilities - Sub Center, Primary Health Center and Community Health Center - in terms of maternal and child health outcomes measured through antenatal care, safe delivery, immunization and treatment for fever. Logistic regression analysis has been used for analyzing the sole influence of distance on health care utilization. The findings reveal that distance has strong impact on the utilization and outcome of health care in the states that are less developed socially and economically. It also suggests that wherever the impact of distance is more on maternal health care than on child health care.