Definition: Percent of population living within 5 km of a health facility (total number of health facilities per 10 000 population).
Numerator: Number of facilities in public and private sectors.
Denominator: Total population.
Disaggregation: Access to emergency surgery (% of the population that can access, within 2 hours, a facility that can perform emergency caesarean section, laparotomy and open fracture fixation), density of specific services, facility ownership, location (district, province, national), type.
Data Requirements: Availability (health facility assessment, census, master facility list). Geographical accessibility is the preferred indicator and is often measured by distance or travel time to a static health facility. A more objective and easier indicator uses facility databases to assess density and distribution. See also: Percent of population living within two hours travel time from nearest facility offering a specific reproductive health service; and Number and distribution of health facilities per 10,000 population
Data Sources: Facility database Geospatial modelling Surveys
Purpose: The indicator contributes to the measurement of facility infrastructure management, such as physical availability and accessibility of health services.
References: World Health Organization (WHO). 2015 Global Reference List of 100 Core Health Indicators.; 2015. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/173589/1/WHO_HIS_HSI_2015.3_eng.pdf World Health Organization. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Review of National Health Strategies: A Country-Led Platform for Information and Accountability.; 2011. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/country_monitoring_evaluation/1085_IER_131011_web.pdf Further information and related links Monitoring the building blocks of health systems: a handbook of indicators and their measurement strategies. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010 (Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/WHO_MBHSS_2010_full_web.pdf?ua=1). World health statistics 2014. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014 (Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/112738/1/9789240692671_eng.pdf?ua=1)