ANALYSISI ON THE ABILITY OF SERVICE PROVIDING OF TOWNSHIP HEALTH CENTERS IN POVERTY-STRICKEN AREAS IN SICHUAN PROVINCE

ObjectiveTo analyse the current situation of ability of service providing of township health centers in poverty-stricken areas of Sichuan province,to put forward suggestions for enhancing the service providing ability of township health centers in similar areas of West China.MethodsLiterature reviewing,questionnaires survey,and qualitative interview were used to collect data,then the obtained data together with data published by Ministry of Health P.R.were analyzed using Fisher,s exact probabilities.ResultsThe ability of service providing of town health centers was better than that of township health centers;the ability of those health centers in 2005 was a little better than that of national township health centers in 1998.ConclusionsThe ability of service providing of township health centers in poverty-stricken areas of Sichuan province is still much lower than that of national rural areas.Such measures as financial support and project support are advocated to enhance the ability of township health centers in poverty-stricken areas of West China,especially the primary township health centers.