Browsing by Author "Haivela, Elina"

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    Investigating the determinants of access to health care services in Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2022) Haivela, Elina
    The argument concerning the link between household/individual, community characteristics and health services utilisation in extant literature is relatively broad. Using data adopted from the Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) conducted between April 2015 and March 2016, this thesis investigated the determinants of access to health care services in Namibia. The probit and multinomial logit regression analysis were used to estimate the effect of household/individual and community characteristics on access to health care services and health care provider choice in Namibia. The study finds that household income, gender, medical insurance, household place of resident and education status increase the probability of accessing health care services. It further reveals that household income, medical insurance, gender and education status significantly influences health care provider choice probability. Therefore, the study confirms that individual/household and community socioeconomic factors do affect health care utilization and significantly explain the choice between private, public and traditional/others health services in Namibia. The findings suggest that there is greater need to uplift the living conditions of people in rural areas, make health care provision accessible to all households in Namibia. Consequently, the study serves as an opportunity for policy makers to pay more attention to improving citizens’ level of education, income and access to medical coverage which are some of the key determinants of access to health care services in Namibia.