Abstract
The problem of accessibility of health institution, with respect to the available facility to serve the entire population leaving in an area, can be solved using GIS. This paper presents an analysis on accessibility of healthcare facilities in Enugu urban area in a GIS environment. This was achieved through acquisition of a base map of Enugu State showing geographic extent of Enugu Urban, determining the geometric positions of health institutions in Enugu urban using handheld GPS, Creation of a spatial database of existing healthcare facilities and demonstrating through various analyses the potentials of GIS in measurement of accessibility to healthcare facilities in Enugu urban Area. The analysis includes network analysis, used to determine the closeness of a facility and shortest route to these healthcare facilities. ARCGIS 9.3 was the main software used. This was supported by Geocal for coordinate conversion and Microsoft office packages. The result of the study showed the spatial distribution of health institutions, closest facilities in case of emergency and route to those health institutions within Enugu urban Area. It was noticed that most of the healthcare facilities were located within Enugu North local government area (LGA). Other settlements and LGAs had fewer healthcare facilities. Areas deprived of healthcare facility were also identified. Routes and closest facilities to those deprived areas were identified in the settlements/area. The analysis showed the efficacy of GIS in determining accessibility of healthcare institutions in Enugu urban area. The study is thus, recommended as a spatial decision support system for decisions regarding spatial accessibility of healthcare facilities in an urban area.
Highlights
The maintenance of good health and easy access to adequate healthcare has been a challenge to mankind
This paper presents an analysis on accessibility of healthcare facilities in Enugu urban area in a GIS environment
This was achieved through acquisition of a base map of Enugu State showing geographic extent of Enugu Urban, determining the geometric positions of health institutions in Enugu urban using handheld Global Positioning System (GPS), Creation of a spatial database of existing healthcare facilities and demonstrating through various analyses the potentials of GIS in measurement of accessibility to healthcare facilities in Enugu urban Area
Summary
The maintenance of good health and easy access to adequate healthcare has been a challenge to mankind. A major policy trust of the DHS, is the knowledge of the spatial distribution of the healthcare facilities and the population it serves This is the first step in achieving an efficient healthcare delivery system. Healthcare facilities that were initially meant for two settlements are being used by seventeen settlements of Enugu urban area These has caused over utilization of public healthcare facilities and delays in accessing same. The current situation of healthcare delivery in Enugu urban leaves much to be desired It is against this backdrop that the study which seeks to measure accessibility of healthcare facilities in Enugu urban area using GIS for proper analysis, management and utilization was carried out. The study highlighted the challenges healthcare services faced and will be limited to healthcare facility in Enugu urban
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