Browsing by Author "Mapira, Wendy"

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    Demand for health care services in the urban areas of Zimbabwe : a case study of the Harare city
    (2003) Mapira, Wendy; Thiede, Michael; Okorafor, Okore
    The study attempts to evaluate the impact of the health sector deregulation policy on the choice of health care providers 12 years after its implementation. It gives some insights into the pattern of health care choices in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe with the aim of drawing some conclusions about the urban areas of Zimbabwe. The other objective is to highlight the impact of personal characteristics and factors related to the facility on the choice between public and private health care providers. Some coping mechanisms being used by urban dwellers in dealing with illness are also investigated. Micro data was gathered by administering a questionnaire to randomly selected individuals who experienced some illness or injury during the reference period. For empirical estimation, logistic regression was used. The results of the study show that the urban poor rely heavily on public health care providers, informal forms of care, and they have limited access to private sector facilities. Although the deregulation policy managed to bring in new players in the health sector, the amount of competition was not enough to lower the cost of health care because the cost of drugs and consultation fees continued to soar. The major factors found to influence health care choices are gender, net monthly income, education, occupation, and availability of essential drugs, fees and the cost of drugs. The results of the study show a clear message that deregulation of the health sector did manage to increase the size of the private sector but failed to widen the scope of provider choices especially for the poorer urban residents.