The Contribution of Traditional Herbal Medicine Practitioners to Kenyan Health Care Delivery : Results from Community Health-seeking Behavior Vignettes and a Traditional Herbal Medicine Practitioner Survey
This study examines the role that Traditional Herbal Medicine Practitioners (THMPs) play in Kenya in the context of its human resources for health crisis. Two surveys were carried out to obtain evidence. The first documented the choices and percept...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2011/09/15433729/contribution-traditional-herbal-medicine-practitioners-kenyan-health-care-delivery-results-community-health-seeking-behavior-vignettes-traditional-herbal-medicine-practitioner-survey http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13588 |
| Summary: | This study examines the role that
Traditional Herbal Medicine Practitioners (THMPs) play in
Kenya in the context of its human resources for health
crisis. Two surveys were carried out to obtain evidence. The
first documented the choices and perceptions of households
in 36 communities on seeking medical assistance for eight
common illnesses. The second survey asked 258 THMPs in five
provinces to identify their knowledge sources, training,
common illnesses treated, forms of payment, challenges, and
concerns. Community-derived data show that households make
reasonable decisions when faced with difficult
circumstances: they prefer hospitals when these are
affordable and seek care at clinics and health centers when
hospitals are too far away. There is significant self-care
and use of pharmacies, although THMPs are preferred for
worms and lower respiratory problems. In general, THMPs
provide an important though diminishing role in the
provision of health care; they are not sought out in
situations when inadequate care is dangerous, specifically
infant diarrhoea and potential TB. Whilst Human Resources
for Health (HRH) policies are urgently required to
strengthen the conventional health workforce and increase
their accessibility for the poor, policies should not ignore
the findings from this study: many of the rural poor
currently receive services from a traditional health
workforce not linked to, or regulated by, the national
government. This paper argues that formal recognition of
their role by the government and by the conventional medical
associations, and a targeted strategy to strengthen and
build on the positive qualities evident in many traditional
medicine practices may be beneficial to safeguarding the
well-being of the poor. |
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