An analysis of health services coverage of a primary health centre in West Bengal

Seven hundred rural families from different religious, economic, educational and occupational groups residing at different distances from the service health centre (PHC) were interviewed to study its service coverage and service bottlenecks. Acceptability, contact and effectiveness coverage, were respectively 64.8, 19.2 and 13.8 percent in case of medical care; 71.8, 28.3 and 27.2 percent in Maternal and Child Health Care Services; 45.7, 18.2 and 17.3 percent in case of Family Welfare Planning Services; and 64.4, 55.7 and 55.7 percent in immunization services. The higher income group utilized the services least 4.1 percent, compared to lower income group (17.7 percent). Utilization of the PHC services significantly declined with distance from the health centre. Less than 1/5th of the families (19.2 percent) utilized the medicare. Bottlenecks in service utilization were distance from PHC, and caste, education and income.