The Impacts of Decentralization on Health Care Seeking Behaviors in Uganda

Hutchinson, Paul L.; Akin, John S.; & Ssengooba, Freddie. (2006). The Impacts of Decentralization on Health Care Seeking Behaviors in Uganda. International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 21(3), 239-70.

Reference Type:
Journal Article

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Author(s):
Hutchinson, Paul L.
Akin, John S.
Ssengooba, Freddie

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Series Author(s):

Year Published:
2006

Date Published:

Journal Name:
International Journal of Health Planning and Management

Volume Number:
21

Issue Number:
3

Start Page Number:
239-70

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ISSN/ISBN:

DOI:
10.1002/hpm.848

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Reference ID:
3152

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Abstract:

This paper examines the impacts of a public sector decentralization program on health care seeking behaviors in Uganda in the 1990s. Shifting priorities by local governments in Uganda's decentralized health system away from provision of primary health care, in particular the provision of public goods or goods with substantial consumption externalities, and toward provision of private health goods such as curative care are linked to shifts in individual-level care utilization behaviors. This analysis finds that, while the country has been undergoing a multitude of changes in recent years, decentralization appears to have led to increases in the use of curative services with largely private benefits, perhaps at the expense of the use of primary health care services and services with consumption externalities. A longer period of analysis is required to determine the persistence of these effects.

Keyword(s):
Population and Health Policies and Programs

URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hpm.848

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Citation:

Hutchinson, Paul L.; Akin, John S.; & Ssengooba, Freddie. (2006). The Impacts of Decentralization on Health Care Seeking Behaviors in Uganda. International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 21(3), 239-70.