Reports on a study which found that public clinics provided better prenatal diagnosis and counseling and more family planning services than private clinics. Private clinics tended to be in better condition, better equipped and supplied, and better able to provide certain laboratory test results in a timely manner. Comparison of urban and rural public clinics indicated that while urban clinics were somewhat better provisioned with equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals, rural clinics appeared to be in better repair. Points out that for policy makers, the results of the study could prove useful in guiding concrete interventions, summarizing the structural elements of health care quality at different types of facilities, and providing a method for less costly evaluation of programs assigned to improve services at primary health care clinics.

3/7/00 M2LMGR