Utilization of Urban Primary Health Care Delivery System of Urban Primary Health Care Service Delivery Project In a Selected area of Dhaka city

Unplanned urbanization and rural to urban migration are two silent public health problems of Bangladesh. Overcrowded slums, poor sanitation, coupled with poverty make the urban poor prone to ill-health. Primary Health Care... [ view full abstract ]

Unplanned urbanization and rural to urban migration are two silent public health problems of Bangladesh. Overcrowded slums, poor sanitation, coupled with poverty make the urban poor prone to ill-health. Primary Health Care provision of urban Bangladesh is not as organized as its rural counterpart. This cross-sectional study therefore carried out to determine the awareness and utilization of services of Urban Primary Health Care Center (UPHCC) and Comprehensive Reproductive Health Care Center (CRHCC) of Pallabi Extension. Data were collected through face-to-face interview among 317 slum dwellers of the centers' catchment area, using purposive sampling technique. 69.01% respondents were in age group of 21 to 35 years. 42.3% had received primary education. 52.4% had average monthly income of taka 5001 – 10000. Most (97.5%) of respondents were aware of UPHCC and most frequently mentioned services provided were the hospital delivery service (99.7%), antenatal care service (99%), immunization service (96.6%), services for tuberculosis (79.1%) family planning service (68.4%). 91% respondents utilized services from UPHCC, of which only 20% were ‘Red Card’ holder. 75% took antenatal care services, among them 40% took 4 and more visits. 93.8% respondent took TT vaccination during their pregnancy period, of which 73.6% utilized UPHCC or CRHCC for vaccination. Among the respondents, only 22.1% had delivery at CRHCC whereas home delivery was 68.2%. Association between economic condition and place of delivery was highly significant. (χ2 = 35.914, p<0.001). 97% children were immunized, 63% of them were from UPHCC. 63.3% went to CRHCC for family planning. Limited curative care & treatment for RTI/STI are the least used services. The study demonstrates high awareness level of the PHC system in the population studied, however, disparities between utilization of various services were prominent. Health education for the community and training for health worker to reduce the disparities between service utilization is recommended.