Analyzing Geographical Access to HIV Sentinel Clinics in Relation to Other Health Clinics in Zambia

摘要

This paper illustrates that in countries such as Zambia where available sentinel clinic data lack patient use information while including location and clinic type, advanced geospatial modeling can be a good proxy for measuring access to health care facilities including HIV sentinel clinics. The analysis shows mapped patterns of potential accessibility to HIV sentinel clinics versus all other clinics, while taking into consideration the spatial distribution of the country's population. The results indicate that Zambia has developed a relatively impressive set of health facilities-so much so that 98% of the population is within 50 km of a health facility, a reasonable distance for a day's bike ride, and nearly three in four are within 20 km. However, when it comes to HIV sentinel or surveillance clinics, this target is far from being realized, with only 52% percent of the population being within 50 km of a sentinel clinic.