Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/259943 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2007:11
Publisher: 
Lund University, School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Lund
Abstract: 
Bangladesh has made significant progress in health indicators in recent years in spite of her low level of income. This is mainly due to the commitment of the state supported by donors in providing preventive care with respect to child health and family planning. However, there are serious problems related to both access and quality of curative care that hurt the poor most. Infrastructures for service delivery exist at local level in rural areas but they function inefficiently. This paper deals with the systemic weaknesses of decentralized service provision of primary healthcare in Bangladesh and focuses on accountability links between different actors and functions of delegation, finance, performance, information and enforcement. The study is based on facility- and household-based data collected during 2005 in Khulna Division. The main findings of the study are: the health system in rural areas represents deconcentration rather than decentralization of central government functions where inter-sectoral discipline works poorly; local health providers are not accountable to local government, and poor citizens/clients are neither aware of their rights nor are capable of expressing their needs as effective channels do not exist.
Subjects: 
decentralization
accountability
governance
primary healthcare
JEL: 
I12
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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