Healthcare Access in Three Residential Neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

This chapter examines social inequalities in health care access in the context of the rapid urban expansion occurring in Accra, Ghana. In the foreseeable future, cities in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) will become the predominant social, political, economic, and cultural contexts for the well-being of the majority of the population. Estimates indicate that by the year 2015, for the first time in continent, more than half of the population will live in urban areas (Cohen 2006; UN HABITAT 2011). Already, Ghana has one of the highest urbanization rates in the SSA, with 51 % of the country’s 24 million people living in urban areas. Current estimates show that Ghana has an urbanization rate of 3.4 %, with Accra, the capital city, as the most urbanized city in the country.