The availability of health services in urban informal settlements is a major concern.

According to
a study by Corburn and Sverdlik, informal settlements or slums dominate the urban landscape
and are home to almost 900 million people worldwide. These settlements often have an acute
dearth of affordable, high-quality healthcare1. Slums tend to have an inconsistent patchwork of
public-, private- and charity-based providers, with many ‘informal’ healthcare workers1.
A study by BMC Public Health found that access to primary healthcare services in urban
informal settlements is limited. The study created a proxy index for access to primary care based
on healthcare utilization variables including health insurance coverage, timeliness of care,
distance to the nearest primary care center, availability of essential healthcare services,
affordability, acceptability, quality of care, and treatment procedure 2.
In conclusion, the availability of health services in urban informal settlements is low. The lack of
access to affordable, high-quality healthcare is a major concern for the people living in these
settlements. It is important to address this issue by providing better access to healthcare services
and improving the quality of care provided to the people living in these settlements.

The research findings highlight a significant issue in urban health - the poor coverage of primary
health services in informal settlements or slums. This issue is multifaceted and can be attributed
to several factors:
1. Perceived Quality of Care: In urban areas of lower- and middle-income countries,
including slums, individuals have a wide range of choices in healthcare
providers1. Interestingly, people often do not choose the nearest and cheapest provider,
implying that they are willing to incur additional costs to visit a provider they perceive to
offer better healthcare1.
2. Access to Healthcare Services: Access to primary healthcare is crucial for the delivery
of universal health coverage policy. However, disparities in healthcare have proved to be
the biggest challenge for implementing primary care in poor-urban resource
settings2. Factors such as living in a female-headed household, seeking care from a public
facility, and paying out-of-pocket for healthcare are significantly associated with low
access to primary care2.
3. Infrastructure: The poor state of infrastructure in informal settlements compromises the
communities’ ability to access emergency healthcare services3. Poor road networks make
it difficult for ambulances to navigate and provide timely emergency services3.
These findings suggest that efforts to improve primary health services in informal settlements
should focus on enhancing the perceived quality of care, reducing disparities in healthcare
access, and improving infrastructure. Policies that encourage economic empowerment of female-
headed households and quality improvement in public health facilities could also play a crucial
role in improving access to primary healthcare2.