Access to health services in under privileged areas. A case study of Mobile Health Units in Tamil Nadu and Orissa.
Abstract
This report provides an assessment of what gains are achieved through Mobile Health Units (MHUs) in relation to access to care in the inaccessible areas of Tamil Nadu (TN) and Orissa. A case study approach has been adopted to access the role of the MHUs and, more specifically, the study attempts to: assess the gains presented by MHUs, in terms of access to care; identify and analyze factors which hinder or enable the better implementation of MHUs; and, propose policies to improve the overall design and implementation of MHUs in the future. This study is based on: (a) secondary data from available government and other sources; (b) in-depth interviews with key stakeholders; (c) primary survey data from communities that have used MHUs; and, (d) direct observations on the functioning of MHUs in the two sample states, TN and Orissa.
Citation
Consortium for Research on Equitable Health Systems, London, 39 pp.
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