Illness and Choice of Treatment in Urban and Rural Ethiopia

Abstract

Using large data set from a nationally representative sample of households and discrete choice models, we examine the effect of access to roads, transport and liquidity on seeking treatment for illness and health care provider choice in urban and rural Ethiopia. The results indicate that access to roads and public transport are important determinants of the decision to seek treatment for illness by the rural residents. We also find evidence that distance to all weather road, access to public transport and access to liquidity
have a strong effect on the utilization of private healthcare facilities. The significance of distance to all weather roads in healthcare utilization is
especially appealing in terms of policy design because it implies that construction of multi-purpose road networks can compensate for the absence
of healthcare facilities in the proximity.

Keywords: Illness; healthcare choice; accessibility; liquidity constraint; discrete choice models; sample selection