The choice of a health care provider in Eritrea.

The purpose of the study was to assess the factors that affect patients' choice of health care service providers and to analyse the effect of each factor, and to examine the policy implications for future health care provision in Eritrea. The data for this study was collected in a 10-month period from January to October 2003. A total of 1657 households were included in the study. Our findings reveals that education, perceived quality, distance, user fees, severity of illness, socio-economic status and place of residence are statistically significant in the choice of a health care provider. Our study further shows that illness recognition is much lower for poor and less educated individuals. When an illness is recognized by the individual or household, a typical observation is that health care is less likely to be sought when the individual or household is poor and lives far from the facilities, and then only in case of a serious illness. Information on the choice of health care service providers is crucial for planning, organizing and evaluation of health services. The people's perception of disease/illness, their concept of health and the basis for their choice in health care has to be considered in order to respond with appropriate services and information, education and communication programs.