Preference and willingness to pay for traditional medicine services in rural ethnic minority community in Vietnam

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Ngan Kim Nguyen¹  Cuong Tat Nguyen²  Vuong Minh Nong³  Bach Xuan Tran⁴  Long Hoang Nguyen⁵  Lan Phuong Nguyen⁶ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology, Hanoi School of Public Health, Hanoi, Vietnam;Institute for Global Health Innovations, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam;Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam;Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam;Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA;School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam;T.H.Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA;

关键词: Ethnic Minority;    Traditional Medicine;    Community Health Worker;    Community Health Center;    Commune Health Station;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12906-016-1010-7

 received in 2015-08-11, accepted in 2016-01-22,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTraditional medicine (TM) still plays an important role in a number of health care systems around the world, especially across Asian and African countries. In Vietnam, however, little is known about preference for traditional medicine use. This study assessed the prevalence of use, preference, satisfaction, and willingness to pay for TM services amongst rural ethnic minority community.MethodsA cross-sectional survey in three provinces in the North and South of Vietnam.ResultsThe results showed a high level of satisfaction with TM services, with more than 90 % of respondents reporting improved health status given the use of TM. Indicators for preference of TM over modern medicine are a longer distance to health station; being in an ethnic minority; being female; and having had higher service satisfaction. Although we did not have a comparison group, the high level of satisfaction with TM services is likely the result of a project targeting community health workers and the public regarding TM education and access promotion. Indeed, the community health workers are credited with relaying the information about TM more than any other sources. This suggests the importance of community health workers and community health centers in the promotion of TM use.ConclusionsEthnic minority people prefer the use of traditional medicine services that supports the expansion of national programs and promotion of traditional medications.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Tran et al. 2016