SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE FACILITIES IN KANO SOUTH SENATORIAL ZONE, KANO STATE, NIGERIA.

Umar, N.K.*, Musa, I.J., Hassan, M. and Obeka, S.S.

While PHC facilities are relatively uniformly distributed throughout Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria, the rural people tend to underuse the basic health services. Thus, the weakening of such public health services in terms of availability and the increasing demand of healthcare due to rapid population growth in the study area, might have placed PHC facilities in a deplorable situation. This study seek to analyze the spatial distribution of PHC facilities in some selected LGAs of Kano South Senatorial Zone, Kano State, Nigeria. These study locations were selected using systematic sampling technique. The study sites include Sumaila, Gaya, Ajingi and Rano LGAs. Data used for the study included: Administrative map and Google earth satellite imagery of Kano state, population data, coordinates of all the wards of the study area and the PHC facilities. Information on the number and addresses of the facilities were also used. These data were incorporated into ArcGIS 10.1 Software interface, mapped and analyzed using GIS Technique (Nearest Neighborhood) and descriptive statistics were also used. Results of the analysis showed that PHC facilities visually and descriptively within the study area, with Sumaila having the highest percentage (36.03%), while Rano had the least (12.61%). Furthermore, the Neighborhood analysis revealed similar distribution pattern of the facilities with less than 1% (0.01 significance level). Based on WHO criteria, the distribution of the PHC facilities with respect to population sizes of the different LGAs appeared to be inadequate (with a shortfall of 411 health posts, 32 health clinics and 6 primary health centers), where the existing coverage offers one facility to 8,833 people. Based on the results of the analysis, there is urgent need for all the stakeholders to invest more on PHC which should reflect the population density of the study area so that acute health problem could be minimized.

Key words: Distribution, Population Size, Primary Health Care Facilities, Spatial Pattern.