Abstract:
We examine patterns of health seeking behaviour prior to death among 1282
individuals who lived in the Umkhanyakude District of Northern KwaZulu-
Natal. Information on the health care choices of these individuals, who died
between January 2003 and July 2004, was gathered after their deaths from their
primary care-givers. We examine choices made concerning public and private
medicine, western and traditional medicine, and non-prescribed self-medication.
We find that virtually all adults who were ill prior to death sought treatment
from a Western medical provider, visiting either a public clinic or a private
doctor. In this district, which is predominantly poor, ninety percent of adults
who sought treatment from a public clinic also visited a private doctor. Fifty
percent also sought treatment from a traditional healer, suggesting that
traditional medicine is seen as a complement to, rather than a substitute for,
Western care. Better educated people who were ill for less than a month before
dying were significantly more likely to visit a private doctor, while those least
well educated were more likely to visit a traditional healer. Controlling for
length of illness, better educated and wealthier people sought care from a
greater range of providers, and spent significantly more on their treatment.
