To read this content please select one of the options below:

(excl. tax) 30 days to view and download

Analysis of public health-care facilities in rural India

Pragyan Monalisa Sahoo, Himanshu Sekhar Rout

Facilities

ISSN: 0263-2772

Article publication date: 1 August 2023

Issue publication date: 8 November 2023

107

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyze the status of infrastructure, workforce and basic amenities at public health-care facilities in rural India and draw a comparison with its urban counterparts.

Design/methodology/approach

Rural Health Statistics data and National Sample Survey Office Report for the period 2019–10 were used to analyze lower-level public health facilities, namely, subcenters, primary health centers and community health centers (CHCs). Selected tracer indicators under World Health Organization’s (WHO) Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) mechanism such as health center density, core health workforce density and basic amenities were used to carry out the analysis. The extent of facility coverage was measured using the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) guidelines and the proportion of facilities satisfying the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) was measured to assess the service provision quality in rural public health-care facilities.

Findings

Results indicated that the density of public health centers is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Almost all public health-care facilities lack basic amenities in rural areas. Working positions for health specialists in CHCs barely meet the total requirement. Almost all of the public health facilities functioning in rural areas do not meet the IPHS norms.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present paper is the first initiative to assess the status of rural public health-care facilities on the national level using WHO’s SARA indicators as well as NRHM and IPHS guidelines. The study is significant in terms of policy input for achieving universal health coverage in India.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Author contributions: Both authors were major contributors to writing this paper. The second author developed the idea. The first author collected the data. Both authors analyzed the data and participated in writing the paper.

Citation

Sahoo, P.M. and Rout, H.S. (2023), "Analysis of public health-care facilities in rural India", Facilities, Vol. 41 No. 13/14, pp. 910-926. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-07-2022-0098

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles