SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY TO PUBLIC PRIMARY HEALTHCARE CENTERS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The rising call for spatial justice in the distribution and access to public facilities especially health necessitated this study. The study sets out to assess the spatial patterns of physical accessibility to PPHCs in Kaduna State. Four physical accessibility parameters were used in this study: travel time, travel distance to the nearest Public Primary Healthcare Centers (PPHCs), mean distances between and within PPHCs, and effective geographic catchment area coverage of PPHCs. Both travel time and distance to the nearest PPHC were evaluated using a questionnaire. The mean distance between and within PPHCs for LGAs was estimated from the Nearest Neighbor Analysis. The effective geographic catchment area of a PPHC was determined using the geospatial Thiessen polygon method. Findings showed that 42% of the respondents, live close (< 2 km) to a PPHC facility. The proximity of the respondents from Igabi (52%), Zaria (49%), and Zangon-Kataf (51%) is closer than the other LGAs. Thiessen catchment area showed a wide range of variations with some PPHCs with very large areas (426 -615 km2) mostly found in the central senatorial zone, especially in Birnin Gwari and Chikun LGAs. The most widespread are PPHCs with relatively moderate catchment sizes of (187–339 km2) found across parts of northern, central, and southern senatorial and LGAs. The study concludes that areal and topographic factors as revealed by the polygon-derived catchment areas should also guide the decision for the siting of PPHCs in the state. Hence, additional PPHCs are recommended especially LGAs with extensive land masses.