HEALTHCARE ACCESS FOR WOMEN

There is demonstrable evidence that shows that that child survival is significantly higher among the children of mothers who reported no barriers to accessing health care. Cultural and resource-related factors stood out as key barriers to health care utilization in Nigeria.

Currently, a high proportion of women have barriers to accessing health care in Nigeria. Studies have shown that 56% of women experienced financial barriers to accessing health care while one-third had physical barriers. Another third had resource-related barriers.

Studies also suggest that resource-related barriers to health care utilization are a statistically important factor driving high under-five mortality in Nigeria. Factors such as difficulty in getting money needed for medical treatment, shortage of health workers and inadequate supply of drugs are some of the resource-related barriers identified for timely and quality health care interventions in the country.

The states were ranked by the percentage of women faced at least one of the barriers in accessing healthcare.