Accessibility to Health Care Facilities: A Panacea for Sustainable Rural Development in Osun State Southwestern, Nigeria

Abstract

Accessibility to health care facilities has been identified as a major indicator of development. The importance of adequate health care facilities in providing sustainable rural development can therefore not be over-emphasized. Convergence of opinions agreed that lack of basic health care facilities have led to inefficiency in production, declining productivity, reduced life expectance and increased infant mortality rate. In this paper we examine accessibility of people to healthcare facility especially in rural areas. Our findings indicate that the available healthcare facilities are grossly inadequate and their distribution depicts serious inequality. We conclude that there is an urgent need for serious intervention on the part of the government in the provision of health care facilities in the state focused on equitable distribution and accessibility to enhance sustainable rural development.