The Quality of Reproductive Health Care in Gujarat: Perspectives of Female Health Workers and Their Clients

Abstract

In recent years there has been a growing concern in many countries, including India, that public health and family planning programs have placed insufficient emphasis on the quality of their services (Ickis 1992; Khan et al. 1994; Mensch 1993; Miller et al. 1991). The emphasis has too often been on the nominal fulfillment of quantitative targets. In countries such as India, poor service quality and inadequacies in the array of services are believed to be largely responsible for low levels of program use (Bruce 1990; Visaria and Visaria 1992). Poor service quality is also held responsible for low continuity of contraceptive use. Thus the constraint is not in the supply of contraceptives, but rather in the provision of services to people. An improvement in the quality of services is expected to result in a greater and sustained use of family planning.