Removing financial barriers to access reproductive, maternal and newborn health services: the challenges and policy implications for human resources for health
This research assesses how policies reducing demand-side barriers to access to health care have affected service delivery
Abstract
The last decade has seen widespread retreat from user fees with the intention to reduce financial constraints to users in accessing health care and in particular improving access to reproductive, maternal and newborn health services. This has had important benefits in reducing financial barriers to access in a number of settings. If the policies work as intended, service utilization rates increase. However this increases workloads for health staff and at the same time, the loss of user fee revenues can imply that health workers lose bonuses or allowances, or that it becomes more difficult to ensure uninterrupted supplies of health care inputs.
This research aimed to assess how policies reducing demand-side barriers to access to health care have affected service delivery with a particular focus on human resources for health. The authors undertook case studies in 5 countries: Ghana, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This research is funded under the Department for International Development’s ReBUILD Programme which is led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
There is a related literature review
Citation
Barbara McPake, Sophie Witter, Tim Ensor, Suzanne Fustukian, David Newlands, Tim Martineau, and Yotamu Chirwa. Removing financial barriers to access reproductive, maternal and newborn health services: the challenges and policy implications for human resources for health. Human Resources for Healthm 2013; 11: 46. DOI: 10.1186/1478-4491-11-46