Achieving Equity in Public Service Delivery: The Case of Health Care Provision in Asutifi District.

In order to achieve higher human development of the people, the role of equity in resource allocation is key. Achieving human development in this case means increasing the availability of and widening the distribution of life sustaining goods, raising the standard of living including high life expectancy and expanding the range of economic and social choices of the people. With a decade already passed since the Millennium Development Goals were formulated and made the agenda of the world, its achievements going by the current trends remains a mirage. In Ghana, goals related to health sector are far from being achieved. To achieve these Millennium Development Goals, the Government of Ghana has initiated and designed ‗health for all‘ programmes and policies. Among them is the health insurance scheme and Community Health Planning System all geared towards improving access and utilization of health service. Achievement of health for all necessitates health equity. Health equity refers to a fair and just system that gives everyone equal opportunity to access a health service. Therefore, this research, having been built on the premise that government health policies are just and fair to every citizen sought to establish how these policies are being implemented on the ground. This research therefore employed a case study to explore the fundamental complexities that are being undertaken by the Government in the quest of achieving equitable development. Asutifi District therefore provided a basis for understanding the issues under study. To arrive at the correct decisions, literature on the subject was reviewed to understand the concepts, role and policies of the government and also the documented work as written by other authors. Asutifi District was stratified into the existing nine (9) Area Councils which formed the sampling areas which were then subjected to random sampling and 5 Area Councils picked as the iv representative of the District. Collection of data was done through the use of closed ended questionnaires as well as interview guides used to collect data from the key informants. The analysis of data was carefully done by employing the use of Statistical Package for Social Scientists where relevant variables were cross tabulated to make a meaning out of the data. The attainment of health equity has good prospects despite the challenges and constraints facing the districts. These include inadequate staff, poor coordination between District Health unit and District Assembly, powerful political units at the District, nonfunctional sub-district structures and slow reimbursements from the health insurance scheme. These challenges/constraints are hampering access and utilization of health care as well as its financing. The success of health insurance is key to ensuring access and utilization by the poor but the quality of health service rendered through it needs to be improved. However, providing adequate and accessible health infrastructural facilities, ensuring 100% health insurance coverage and addressing other challenges will not solve health inequities as inadequate health personnel remains the greatest challenge to health equity and health for all. All indications are therefore showing that resource allocation in the country is yet to be equitable.

Source: KNUST