Obstacles to Acceptance of Location-Allocation Models in Health Care Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT Geographical inaccessibility to health services persists as a major problem in many African countries, but resources to extend geographic coverage are extremely limited due to extremely difficult economic crises. Current research shows that better spatial organization of existing health facilities through application of location-allocation methods is an effective and less expensive means to improve geographical accessibility to health and other services. While many studies demonstrate the utility of these methods in the African context, the application of location-allocation methods in African health planning is rare. This paper explores the obstacles to the acceptance of location-allocation methodology in Africa and suggests how they may be overcome.