Table 1 Matrix of factors reported by papers to attract care seekers to different provider types: Cost of services
| Provider type |
Community health workers
(n = 4) |
Drug shop/pharmacy
(n = 19) |
Traditional healer
(n = 4) |
Private health centre/facility
(n = 3) |
Public health centre/facility
(n = 10) |
Hospital
(n = 3) |
Provider type not specified
(n = 13) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attracting factor | |||||||
|
Cost of services at the provider (including consultation, treatment, supplies)
(n = 44) |
'Cheap' Ethiopia[10], Uganda[11](traditional birth attendants) |
'Cheap' Kenya[14], Tanzania[15], Uganda [16–18] Nigeria [19], [20] Ghana [21], Ethiopia [22], Tanzania[23], Malawi[24], Nigeria [25, 26] | 'Cheap' Burkina Faso[33] | 'Cheap' Uganda [16] |
Free services Malawi [36]South Africa [37] Kenya [38], Tanzania [31] Ethiopia [39] | 'Free services' Kenya[35] | 'Free or cheap drugs' Uganda [45, 46] Tanzania [47] |
| 'No charge' Uganda [12, 13] |
'Affordable' drug vendors Nigeria[27, 28]Ghana[29] |
'For those who find it difficult to pay' Tanzania [23], Uganda[32] | 'Reduced cost' Kenya[35] | 'Free if unable to pay' Tanzania[34] | 'Low cost' Uganda[41] |
'Inexpensive services' Nigeria [48] Ghana [21], Nigeria[20], Kenya[14], [38, 49, 50], Mozambique[51]Ethiopia [52] | |
| 'Charge less than others' Kenya [30] | 'Flexible in payment' Tanzania[34] | 'Can get treatment on credit' Uganda [16], Nigeria [28] | 'Free if Under 5yr olds' Gambia[40] | 'Economical for finding out the cause of an illness' Tanzania[44] |
Affordable Tanzania[53] | ||
| 'Can get treatment on credit' Uganda [16], Tanzania [31], Nigeria [27, 19, 26] | 'Pay according to the treatment you get' Kenya[35] | 'Low cost' Mozambique [37]Uganda[41], Sudan[42] |
'Flexibility in mode of payment' Kenya[14] | ||||
| 'Option of bargaining' Nigeria[20] | 'Prices are negotiable' Kenya[35] | 'Can get treatment on credit' Tanzania [31] | |||||
| 'Give medicine according to the money you can afford' Uganda[32] | 'Covered by insurance' Ghana [43] |