ASSESSMENT OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE PATRONAGE IN KADUNA STATE

Abstract

In Nigeria, the increase in level of patronage of traditional medicine is substantial due to the unmet healthcare needs of people. This study focused on traditional medicine (TM) patronage in Kaduna State for healthcare maintenance. Structured questionnaire was used as instrument of data collection. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the wards and snowball technique was used to identify the patronisers of traditional medicine in the study area. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The result showed that there are more male patrons (66.4 %) of TM, with tertiary level of education (41 %) and income below ₦100,000 (70 %). Information on TM is obtained mostly from friends (57.6%) and family members (29.7%). Despite that all the respondents have patronised traditional medicine, the most preferred choice of healthcare is orthodox medicine (42 %). Although about 48 % of the respondents identified their health status as very good, only 6.5% did not use TM in the last three months prior to the study. The ailments for which TM were most frequently used include malaria, Sexually Transmitted Infection, haemorrhoids and stomach related diseases. The study recommended that government policies should be more considerate of traditional medicine practices due to the growth in patronage. Orthodox medicine practitioners should be more accommodating to traditional medicine practices in order for the patients to be more comfortable in revealing their usage.