URBAN POOR: EVIDENCE OF BARRIERS IN ACCESSING PUBLIC CLINICS IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

Having limited access to healthcare services could lead to poor health outcomes, particularly for those of the lower-income group. People from the lower-income group are regularly reported to face problems in accessing healthcare, generally in the forms of personal, structural or financial constraints. This study focuses on analysing the barriers that hinder the urban poor in Kuala Lumpur from accessing public clinics, the most significant public primary healthcare provider in Malaysia. Respondents of this study were selected among the residents of 30 Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) in Kuala Lumpur. A total of 585 respondents participated, 455 of them were public clinic users. The result suggests that financial and structural barriers prevent the urban poor from having access to public clinics. It is believed that revising current programmes to meet the growing healthcare needs of the people, the poor especially would be highly beneficial. Thus, this study contributed to a better understanding of the barriers faced by the urban poor in Kuala Lumpur to access public clinics.