Estimating the Impact of Improved Roads on Access to Health Care : Evidence from Mozambique
The paper recasts light on the linkage between transport infrastructure and human capital development. Health care access is an important challenge in many developing countries. In particular in remote rural areas, it is not easy to access good qua...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/460631625228254580/Estimating-the-Impact-of-Improved-Roads-on-Access-to-Health-Care-Evidence-from-Mozambique http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35913 |
| Summary: | The paper recasts light on the linkage
between transport infrastructure and human capital
development. Health care access is an important challenge in
many developing countries. In particular in remote rural
areas, it is not easy to access good quality health care
services. Among others, transport connectivity is often an
important constraint. The paper estimates the impact of
transport connectivity on access to health care services in
Mozambique, especially focused on people’s decision about
whether they visit and ask for advice at a health facility
if they have a fever. This is a critical question in
Mozambique where malaria is still a life-threatening
disease. About three-quarters of the total population does
not have access to health facilities by walking. The paper
shows that transport connectivity to health facilities is a
significant determinant of people’s health care access.
Owning transport means, such as a bike or a motorcycle, is
also instrumental to promoting people’s access to health
care. The rich are more likely to benefit from health care
services, suggesting a need for other complementary
policies, such as a health care subsidy and insurance, to
improve health care accessibility. |
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