The project aims to analyze the costs of primary health care service delivery in Tamil Nadu to understand the financial and resource requirements necessary to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by estimating the actual and normative costs of primary health services provided in Community Health Centers (CHCs), Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Sub Health Centers (SHCs), and Urban Primary Health Centers (UPHCs).
Output/ Resources:
Benchmarking primary health care costs and identifying financial gaps to inform policy and financing in Tamil Nadu.
Estimate the actual costs of primary health care services in Tamil Nadu.
Calculate the normative costs based on standard treatment protocols (STPs).
Identify the financial and resource gaps in primary health service delivery and provide evidence to guide public financing and policy decisions for primary health care in Tamil Nadu.
Mixed Methodology
The project employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyze costs and identify gaps in primary health care services.
The actual cost per capita for rural primary health care is significantly lower than the normative cost, indicating underfunding.
There is a substantial gap in resources needed to achieve full-service coverage, with a 67% gap at 100% coverage and 34% at 50% coverage.
Many facilities do not meet the required staffing norms, leading to varied productivity and underutilization of services.
Non-random facility selection, incomplete service data, and difficulties in staff time allocation data collection impacted the analysis.
Patients face challenges in accessing necessary drugs at primary health facilities.
