Socio-Economic Impact of Fuel Subsidy Removal on the Accessibility of Healthcare Services in Ife Central Local Government, Ile-Ife

This study focused on “Socio-economic Impact of fuel subsidy removal on the accessibility of Healthcare services in Ife Central Local Government, Ile Ife osun state. The objectives were to: investigate the socio-economic well-being of residents of Ife Central Local Government before fuel subsidy removal, examine the socio-economic impact of fuel subsidy removal on the general well-being of residents of Ife Central Local Government and Assess the quality of Life Metrics and Deprivation Indices caused by fuel subsidy removal on accessibility of Healthcare Services among residents of Ife Central Local Government Area, Ile-IfeThe research design employed in this study was descriptive survey design. Convenience sampling technique was used to select two hundred (200) respondents from two communities in Ife Central Local Government, Ile-Ife. A total of 200 copies of questionnaire were distributed from which 186 were retrieved for analysis making 93% response rate. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, simple percentage, mean and standard deviation while Inferential statistics such as t-test was used to test hypothesis at p-value 0.05 with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.The result revealed that all the respondents (100%) strongly agreed and agreed that they were able to sufficiently feed their families (3 meals per day) before the fuel subsidy removal. All of the respondents (100%) strongly agreed and agreed that they were able to access health care facilities (hospital) when any member of their family was sick before the fuel subsidy removal. Majority (85.5%) of respondents strongly agreed and agreed that there is increase in the cost of living while 100% of the resspondents agreed that there is high increase in transportation after the fuel subsidy removal. Many of the respondents (84.9%) strongly agreed and disagreed that the removal of fuel subsidies has limited their abilities to pay .regularly for my children school fees. More than half of the respondents (66.1%) reported a decrease in their regular hospital visits and appointments. An average (55.4%) of the respondents agreed that there are difficulties in affording necessary medications or treatments since the removal of fuel subsidy. The hypothesis using T-test showed that fuel subsidy removal significantly influence the accessibility of healthcare care services among residents of Ife Central Local Government with the p-value less than 0.05.The study concluded that fuel subsidy removal has led to increase in transportation cost and inflation thus causing a low accessibility rate of respondents to health care services. The study therefore recommended that the National Health Insurance Scheme should be strengthened to cover rural and urban areas and implement targeted subsidies and social assistance to residents.