An Insight Into the Healthcare Facility and Accessibility in Assam

This chapter investigates two crucial aspects of healthcare in one of the Northeastern states in India, namely, Assam. The first one deals with the comparison of inter-district healthcare facilities of the state, while the second one comprises a case study to see people’s preferences in accessing those facilities. The fifth NFHS (2020), Rural Health Statistics (2021), and Statistical Handbook Assam (2022) have been used to compare and analyze healthcare facilities. The result of the one-way ANOVA analysis shows the existence of statistically significant differences in households with improved sanitation facility and fully vaccinated children of age group (12–23 months) among different divisions of districts. For the case study, the chapter considers age, gender, education, household size, family income, and distance as socio-demographic variables which are assumed to affect people’s preference for accessing healthcare facilities. The binary probit regression model reveals a significant negative influence of education and family income on people’s preference for accessing healthcare facilities.