Spatial access to malaria treatment in Kenya and its impact on health seeking behavior: A GIS based study

Introduction: This study assembles a geographic information system (GIS) to relate the access and use of malaria treatment (health seeking) with an inventory of health facilities in Kenya. Hypothesis: This study hypothesizes that a correlation will exist between geographical variation and topography and the frequency/rapidity with which people seek care for malaria. Methods: This study uses measurements of access based on the distance to the closest facility, and also employs a more comprehensive index of accessibility that weights the facilities according to size, proximity, and characteristics of both the facility and the population (i.e. how many physicians are at each facility, is it publicly or privately funded, is the surrounding population socioeconomically advantaged). Results: The proportion of the population of Kenya that lacks access to malaria treatment will be determined. This information will include proximity to facility and capacity/physician experience at each facility, will also be linked with information about implementation of pharmaceutical reform (i.e. cost and availability of medicine). This GIS platform developed during this work will allow determination of communities in rural Kenya that have inadequate access to healthcare and where interventions to improve access could potentially have the greatest impact.