AN ASSESSMENT OF LEVELS IN PATRONAGE OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

 This paper present results on the levels of Patronage of Traditional Medicine in Kaduna State Nigeria. The aim of the study is to assess the factors influencing patronage of traditional medicine in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Data from the study were derived from the administration of a structured Questionnaire and data from herbal medicine clinic. Questionnaire was purposely administered among 400 respondents who were herbal practitioners. The one way ANOVA result obtained shows that there is a significant spatial variation in the factors that determine the choice of a particular healthcare facility among the selected LGAs (F = 14.889, P< 0.05; Sig 0.000; df 2/347).The finding of the study reveals that the factors responsible for the patronage of traditional medicine are availability of traditional medicine, accessibility, confidentiality, nature of the illness, affordability, adaptability and acceptability of traditional medicine.The One-Way ANOVA. The ANOVA result shows that there is a significant variation in the perception of patrons about traditional medicine among the selected LGAs (F = 22.383, p<0.05). This implies that people perceive traditional medicine differently and may affect their level of patronage of traditional medicine in the study area. However, the traditional healers contribute in the healing process of patients through diagnoses. Thus, the traditional medicine man could serve as an important resource of information and should be incorporated in the health care system. The study recommends that there should be a policy of active collaboration between orthodox medical practitioners and traditional healthcare providers.