Patient access to health care and medicines across low-income countries

Divya Srivastava and Alistair McGuire

Social Science & Medicine, 2015, vol. 133, issue C, 21-27

Abstract: This study explores the issue of demand for health care and medicines in low-income country settings. Using the World Health Survey, multivariate analysis of cross-sectional household data from 35 low-income countries found that when ill, patient demand for health care to visit a clinic or hospital is inelastic ranging from −0.19 to 0.11. The main determinants of health seeking behaviour include having insurance, having a chronic condition, high household expenditure, and marital status. Women, the educated and those living in urban settings are more likely to seek care in a clinic. These findings suggest low-income patients will experience access problems, raising important policy implications to improve access to health care and medicines in these settings.

Keywords: Medicines; Health-care access; Determinants of health; Low-income countries; Pharmaceutical policy; Health policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:133:y:2015:i:c:p:21-27

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.03.021

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