This study was carried out in a rural commune of Thua Thien Hue province with the objectives to survey the access to health care services amongst households and to assess health financial burden from the perspective of the household. Methods: 200 representatives of households who had a member with an illness in 2008 were interviewed directly. A prepared questionnaire was used during the interview. | JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, Hue University, N0 61, 2010 HEALTH FINANCIAL BURDEN AND THE ABILITY TO ACCESS HEALTH CARE SERVICES OF HOUSEHOLDS IN THUY VAN COMMUNE, HUONG THUY DISTRICT, THUA THIEN HUE PROVINCE Nguyen Hoang Lan College of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University Nguyen Mau Duyen Health services of Thua Thien Hue Province SUMMARY This study was carried out in a rural commune of Thua Thien Hue province with the objectives to survey the access to health care services amongst households and to assess health financial burden from the perspective of the household. Methods: 200 representatives of households who had a member with an illness in 2008 were interviewed directly. A prepared questionnaire was used during the interview. Results: of households used outpatient services in commune health centres. 72% of inpatient services were at Hue central hospital. The ratio of health care expenditure to total income of the poor households was higher than that of the rich group ( vs ). The highest health expenditure of the households was for pharmaceuticals. Conclusion: There are evidences of the increase in the use of public health care services, especially basic health levels and a rise in out of pocket expenses in households for inpatient services. Consequently, illness within the poor families incurred excessive financial burden, exceeding their ability to pay. Key words: health expenditure, health insurance, inpatient, outpatient, basis health level, inequity, hospital fee, out of pocket, ability to pay. 1. Introduction Vietnam is classified as a low income country. The resources of the government for public expenses in general, and for the health sector in particular, have been limited. Health expenses of households amounted to 72% of the total health expenditure of the country, which ranked the third among countries in Asia, after Cambodia and India. The health expenses of households have risen not only due to an increase in the use of private health .
