Assessing the Role of Private Providers in Nigeria’s Health System

In many developing countries, use of the private sector for healthcare, even among the poor, is high. Yet data on private health providers such as their total number and the types of services they provide is often limited. This paper presents results from a unique data collection effort carried out in Lagos and five other states of Nigeria in which all private health facilities in these states were identified and surveyed. At each facility, data was collected on the physical infrastructure, the types of services offered, and the quality of family planning services delivered at the facility. We first present lessons from the data collection effort itself and provide useful suggestions for others seeking to conduct similar exercises elsewhere. We then analyze the geographic distribution of private providers, the type of services they provide, and the quality of family planning practices delivered by private providers in these states.