Background
Transport infrastructure and services have significantly improved the livelihoods of poor people living in rural areas. Transport facilitates the timely and affordable delivery of basic health, education, water and sanitation services, it connects communities to markets and information, and can empower vulnerable groups. Nonetheless, the development sector is yet to fully acknowledge and understand the role of transport and mobility in improving poor people’s health (Molesworth 2005).
Transport's important role in access to health services
Transport plays a critical role in the effective and efficient delivery of health care. It enables people to access services and health workers to reach communities, especially in sparsely populated rural areas (Babinard and Roberts, 2006). Transport is also essential for delivering supplies of resources such as drugs and personnel to health centres, and for transferring patients between health facilities and to the different levels of care (Downing and Sethi, 2001).
- Mobility and health: the impact of transport provision on direct and proximate determinants of access to health services
- ( K. Molesworth / Swiss Tropical Institute , 2005)
- Recommended reading
- The role of mobility and transport in public health remains neglected both in terms of research and inclusion in development agendas. This paper examines the relationship between mobility and access t...
- Maternal and child mortality development goals: what can the transport sector do?
- ( J. Babinard;P. Roberts / World Bank , 2006)
- This report published by the World Bank focuses on the role of transport and road infrastructure in the delivery of and access to maternal and child health services, and in the effectiveness of the he...
- Health issues in transport and the implications for policy
- ( A. Downing;D. Sethi / Department for International Development, UK , 2001)
- This paper produced by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) reviews current literature on the relationship between health and transport and poor communities. In particular, it focuse...
