The crisis in the health sector of Nigerian economy has been very obvious since
the last decade. Unfortunately, no appreciable progress has been made in
addressing the crisis and ensuring good health for the populace. One of the myriads
of problems facing the Nigerian health system is llimited access to health
facilities. The distortions in the Nigerian health sector arising from both vertical
and horizontal inequalities have negative implications for the health care delivery
system and in meeting the health related Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). Since health is wealth, and like a vicious cycle, the crisis in the health
sector will depress the economy and thereby causing further widening inequalities
in the system. This paper, therefore, examines the spatial distribution of health
establishments in Nigeria with a view to ascertaining whether there is any imbalance.
Using the 2007 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey of health establishment
in Nigeria and the 2006 population census data, spatial statistical
techniques were applied to the data. The Geographic Information System (GIS)
software was used for data analysis. The results indicate that there are large inequalities
in health care provision across the state, relative to the population size.
The policy implication of this paper is that any effort aimed at improving the efficiency
of the health care delivery system in Nigeria should ensure that health
facilities are established relative to the structure of the population.