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13thWorld Congress on Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CARE SEEKING IN INFORMAL CARE PRACTICES IN CAMEROON
Elvire Mendo Me Mfou, PHD student in Health economics, University of Lille 1(France), Cité Scientifique, 59650 Villeneuve d’Ascq, Résidence Boucher F119, Lille
Elvire_ines@yahoo.fr , tél : (+33)761370622
The main objective of this study is to analyze determinants of the demand for care in the informal micro-health units and to understand the pivotal role played by these structures in the health system in Cameroon. Informal micro-health units (IMHU) are small health centers largely unlicensed and unrecorded by government, but the promoters are health professionals and have generally received initial medical training (doctors, nurses, midwives, Assistant , laboratory technicians ...).
To achieve the objectives of this project, we combined two methods: a literature review and mixed method approach (quantitative and qualitative analysis). The quantitative analysis is based on a survey of 500 heads of households and 100 IMHU promoters in the city of Yaounde, but also on statistical and econometric analysis. The qualitative study is based on the interview of a sub-group in our sample consisting of 40 households and 20 promoters from our original sample.
Our preliminary results show that the reasons for promoters to create these IMHU structures are: to meet the demand of the population (55%), to fight against unemployment (40%) and precariousness of labor’s wages in the formal sector (10%). On the other hand, reasons for households to attend these informal health care practices are: affordability (25%), proximity (29%), family decision (7%), quality of care (25%), believes (0.5%), having some relationship with medical personnel (6.5%), not a serious illness (3.5%) and other (17%).
Learning Objectives: The main objective of this study is to analyze determinants of the demand for care in the informal micro-health units and to understand the pivotal role played by these structures in the health system in Cameroon. Informal micro-health units (IMHU) are small health centers largely unlicensed and unrecorded by government, but the promoters are health professionals and have generally received initial medical training (doctors, nurses, midwives, Assistant , laboratory technicians ...).