Alternative medical services in rural Tanzania: A physician's view

A physician evaluating health status among rural Tanzanian children as well as working in a Lutheran hospital, evaluates use of traditional and hospital-based medical care in the Usambara Mountains. Most rural Tanzanians use both traditional and hospital-based services, even for one disease episode. Local attendance at the Maternal and Child Health Clinic (MCHC) is increasing. 82% of the eligible children of the village attend. Of those who are eligible but do not attend, most have a sibling who had attended the clinic. Poor relations between hospital-based and traditional practitioners increase villagers' discomfort at attending the hospital or clinic, including the MCHC. Relations can be bettered by:

(a) having both MCH aides and village women discuss problems at the village health committee; (b) encouraging traditional healers to participate fully on the committee and be trained to hold village health posts: (c) encouraging women to attend the clinic and eliminating the disparagement of traditional medicines in all clinics.