Supply dynamics in access to reproductive, maternal and child health services in sub-Saharan Africa: Need for new research and innovations

Abstract

Restricted access to evidence-based services in health institutions has repeatedly been identified as one of the factors accounting for the poor indicators of reproductive, maternal, and child health in African countries.  Limited access to family planning, antenatal care, safe abortion care, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal services have been documented in many sub-Saharan African countries when compared to other parts of the world, with evidence that these largely account for the high maternal, still-birth, neonatal, infant, and under-five morbidity and mortality rates in the region.

Access to health services has often been described under two domains – demand and supply. Demand for health services is defined here as the actual request for health services by an individual–in this case maternal, reproductive, and child health services. In fielding of research, this is often identified to be the willingness of an individual to use available orthodox health facilities for care. By contrast, supply is the actual amount of health services that are available to clients – in this case, women, children, and their care-givers. The interactions between supply and demand of health services often account for the actual use of evidence-based services, which is the forerunner of improved maternal and child health indices in any context.