title: Rural Health Care Access and Policy in Developing Countries.
abstract: Compared to their urban counterparts, rural and remote inhabitants experience lower life expectancy and poorer health status. Nowhere is the worldwide shortage of health professionals more pronounced than in rural areas of developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) includes a disproportionately large number of developing countries; therefore, this article explores SSA in depth as an example. Using the conceptual framework of access to primary health care, sustainable rural health service models, rural health workforce supply, and policy implications, this article presents a review of the academic and gray literature as the basis for recommendations designed to achieve greater health equity. An alternative international standard for health professional education is recommended. Decision makers should draw upon the expertise of communities to identify community-specific health priorities and should build capacity to enable the recruitment and training of local students from underserviced areas to deliver quality health care in rural community settings.
authors.affiliation: Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury and Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada; email: roger.strasser@nosm.ca.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strasser
authors.affiliation: School of Rural and Northern Health, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON P3E 2C6 Canada.
authors.forename: Sophia M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kam
authors.affiliation: Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury and Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada; email: roger.strasser@nosm.ca.
authors.forename: Sophie M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Regalado
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D057766:Policy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012424:Rural Population
keywords: community engagement; local training and retention; primary health care; rural health workforce; social accountability