Assessment of Spatial Distribution and range of Service of Public Health Facilities in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State Nigeria.

Abstract

The spatial disparity in the distribution of health facilities is a considerable problem in the health care delivery system remarkably in developing countries like Nigeria. This study assessed the spatial distribution and range of service of public health facilities in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State. Both primary and secondary data were used in this study. The inventory of all the public health facilities in the area was taken and location of the facilities was geo-coded using handheld Global Positioning System (GPS). Average nearest neighbour analysis was employed to assess the spatial pattern and distribution of the facilities. Network and buffering analyses were employed to analyse the range of service. The study revealed forty public health facilities: on (I) secondary and thirty-nine (39) primary health facilities distributed across the study area. The study concluded that health facilities in Jos South Local Government were spatially dispersed, the pattern which is tending to be more pronounced in the southern part than in the northern part. It, therefore, recommended the development of a strategy plan, which is to integrate non-government stakeholders in the planning of health service delivery.