Spatial Distribution, Pattern and Accessibility of Urban Population to Health Facilities in Southwestern Nigeria: The Case Study of Ilesa

Abstract

Health facilities are not evenly distributed to the people in Nigeria. Much research works on people accessibility to health facilities are concentrated in major urban centres in Nigeria. This paper examined the accessibility characteristics of urban population to health facilities in a medium sized city of Ilesa, Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were used for the research. A total of 600copies of questionnaire were randomly distributed to the head of households in 11 zones identified in the city. Secondary data were obtained from documentary sources. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that health facilities in Ilesa were unevenly distributed in the form. Health trips in Ilesa were therefore skewed towards Zones with more health services. The result of the analysis of variance further showed the existence of significant variations in accessibility to health facility among the sampled population in the study area. The paper concludes that some of the public health facilities in Ilesa should be upgraded to the status of General Hospitals given the growing nature of the town as the most important town in its region.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n2p425