Overcoming barriers to health service access: influencing the demand side

Evidence suggests that demand-side barriers may be as important as supply factors in deterring patients from obtaining treatment. Yet relatively little attention is given, either by policy makers or researchers, to ways of minimizing their effect. These barriers are likely to be more important for the poor and other vulnerable groups, where the costs of access, lack of information and cultural barriers impede them from benefiting from public spending. Demand barriers present in low- and middle-income countries and evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to overcome these obstacles are reviewed. Demand barriers are also shown to be important in richer countries, particularly among vulnerable groups. This…

• WB
  World Bank Group
• GS
  Goddard Space Flight Center