The determinants of traditional medicine use in Northern Tanzania: a mixed-methods study.
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ABSTRACT: Introduction
Traditional medicines are an important part of healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa, and building successful disease treatment programs that are sensitive to traditional medicine practices will require an understanding of their current use and roles, including from a biomedical perspective. Therefore, we conducted a mixed-method study in Northern Tanzania in order to characterize the extent of and reasons for the use of traditional medicines among the general population so that we can better inform public health efforts in the region.Methods
Between December 2013 and June 2014 in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, we conducted 5 focus group discussions and 27 in-depth interviews of key informants. The data from these sessions were analyzed using an inductive framework method with cultural insider-outsider coding. From these results, we developed a structured survey designed to test different aspects of traditional medicine use and administered it to a random sample of 655 adults from the community. The results were triangulated to explore converging and diverging themes.Results
Most structured survey participants (68%) reported knowing someone who frequently used traditional medicines, and the majority (56%) reported using them themselves in the previous year. The most common uses were for symptomatic ailments (42%), chronic diseases (15%), reproductive problems (11%), and malaria/febrile illnesses (11%). We identified five major determinants for traditional medicine use in Northern Tanzania: biomedical healthcare delivery, credibility of traditional practices, strong cultural identities, individual health status, and disease understanding.Conclusions
In order to better formulate effective local disease management programs that are sensitive to TM practices, we described the determinants of TM use. Additionally, we found TM use to be high in Northern Tanzania and that its use is not limited to lower-income areas or rural settings. After symptomatic ailments, chronic diseases were reported as the most common reason for TM use which may be particularly important in Northern Tanzania where non-communicable diseases are a rapidly growing burden.
SUBMITTER: Stanifer JW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4388565 | biostudies-literature | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundOwing to lack of adequate healthcare financing, access to at least the basic health services is still a problem in Ethiopia. With the intention of raising funds and ensuring universal health coverage, a mandatory health insurance scheme has been introduced. The Community Based Health Insurance has been implemented in all regions of the country, while implementation of social health insurance was delayed mainly due to resistance from public servants. This study was, therefore, aimed to assess willingness to pay for social health insurance and its determinant factors among public servants in Mekelle city, Northern Ethiopia.MethodsA concurrent mixed approach of cross-sectional study design using double bound dichotomous choice contingent valuation method and qualitative focus group discussions was employed. A total 384 public servants were recruited from randomly selected institutions and six focus group discussions (n = 36) were carried out with purposively selected respondents. Participants' mean willingness to pay (WTP) and independent predictors of WTP were identified using an interval data logit model. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.ResultsFrom the 384 participants, 381 completed the interview, making a response rate of 99.2%. Among these respondents 85.3% preferred social health insurance and were willing to pay for the scheme. Their estimated mean WTP was 3.6% of their monthly salary. Lack of money to pay (42.6%) was the major stumbling block to enrolling in the scheme. Respondents' WTP was significantly positively associated with their level of income but their WTP decreased with increasing age and educational status. On the other hand, a majority of focus group discussion participants were not willing to pay the 3% premium set by the government unless some preconditions were satisfied. The amount of premium contribution, benefit package and poor quality of health service were the major factors affecting their WTP.ConclusionThe majority of the public servants were willing to be part of the social health insurance scheme, with a mean WTP of 3.6% of their monthly salary. This was greater than the premium proposed by the government (3%). This can pave the way to start the scheme but attention should focus on improving the quality of health services.
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