Health service access
Percent of population living within 5 km of a health facility (total number of health facilities per 10 000 population).
Number of facilities in public and private sectors.
Total population.
Access to emergency surgery (% of the population that can access, within 2 hours, a facility that can perform emergency caesarean section, laparotomy and open fracture fixation), density of specific services, facility ownership, location (district, province, national), type.
Availability (health facility assessment, census, master facility list).
Geographical accessibility is the preferred indicator and is often measured by distance or travel time to a static health facility. A more objective and easier indicator uses facility databases to assess density and distribution.
See also: Percent of population living within two hours travel time from nearest facility offering a specific reproductive health service; and Number and distribution of health facilities per 10,000 population
Facility database
Geospatial modelling
Surveys
The indicator contributes to the measurement of facility infrastructure management, such as physical availability and accessibility of health services.
Health infrastructure, Service access and availability
World Health Organization (WHO). 2015 Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators.; 2015. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/173589/1/WHO_HIS_HSI_2015.3_eng.pdf
World Health Organization. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Review of National Health Strategies: A Country-Led Platform for Information and Accountability.; 2011. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/country_monitoring_evaluation/1085_IER_131011_web.pdf
Further information and related links
Monitoring the building blocks of health systems: a handbook of indicators and their measurement strategies. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010 (Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/WHO_MBHSS_2010_full_web.pdf?ua=1).
World health statistics 2014. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014 (Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/112738/1/9789240692671_eng.pdf?ua=1)
