Contracting urban primary healthcare services in Bangladesh - effect on use, efficiency, equity and quality of care.

Objective: To evaluate a large, ongoing effort to improve urban primary health care (PHC) in Bangladesh through expansion of publicly funded urban health facilities and contracting with partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Methods: A part of Chittagong was assigned to a contracted NGO while the other parts of the city were contracted to the local government. Performance was assessed by baseline and follow-on household surveys, an endline health facility survey and routinely collected data.