Bangladesh 1993-1994 Demographic and Health ... - Measure DHS

CHAPTER 10AVAILABILITY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY PLANNING SERVICESAs part of the Bangladesh DHS, a separate team of interviewers conducted a Service Availabilitysurvey in each of the sample points selected for the larger survey. The Service Availability survey wasdesigned to elicit data on background characteristics of the selected sample points (e.g., distance to thanaheadquarters, distance to schools, post office, etc.), as well as information about the types of family planningservices that are available either within or near the sample point. The main reason for conducting the ServiceAvailability survey was to be able to distinguish sample points covered by government family planning fieldworkers from those covered by field workers supported by non-governmental organizations. This in turnallows an assessment of the coverage of public versus private field worker programs.The Service Availability survey utilized three questionnaires: one to collect general information aboutthe sample point, one for information from family planning field workers, and one for information from theFamily Welfare Visitors. Interviewers first gathered a group of residents from the selected sample point andconducted a group interview in order to complete the first questionnaire regarding the general description ofthe sampled area. They then made a list of the family planning field workers who covered the area in or nearthe BDHS sample point and selected three for individual interviews. In addition, they interviewed the FamilyWelfare Visitors (FWVs) who worked in the union headquarters in which the BDHS sample point waslocated. Questions for field workers and FWVs included duration of employment, type of training received,and workload.10.1 Community CharacteristicsSome community characteristics can be expected to have an effect on family planning and healthservice utilization. Such factors as distance to schools, markets, post offices, and health and family planningcenters are ways of measuring development of this area.Table 10.1 presents the distribution of ever-married women by distance to various types of schoolsand services. Almost all women in Bangladesh (97 percent) live within a mile of a primary school and 71percent live within a mile of a high school. Religious schools are also widespread in Bangladesh. Threequartersof women live within one mile of a weekly market, while about two-thirds live within a mile of apost office or a daily market. About half of women live within one mile of a family welfare center, whileonly 14 percent live as close to the much larger thana health complex. Overall, public services appear to bewidely available, with urban women living closer to most services than their rural counterparts.Table 10.2 shows the availability of various income-generating organizations such as mothers clubs,the Grameen Bank, and cottage industries. The availability of these income-generating programs mayinfluence women's reproductive behavior. The data indicate that more than half of ever-married women inBangladesh live in communities that have mothers clubs, whereas only about one in seven women live incommunities with cooperative societies or Grameen Bank programs. Very few women live in areas withcottage industries or other income-generating activities. Finally, about 8 percent of women have access totelevision in their communities. Mothers clubs and Grameen Bank programs are less available to urban thanto rural women; television sets are, however, more accessible to urban women.129