Table 1 Training and type of services provided by interviewed formal and informal CTC healthcare providers in Bangladesh
Provider | Training | Type of services provided | Health Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
Informal providers | |||
Traditional healer (Kabiraj) | Mostly self-trained, but some may have training from government or private colleges of ayurvedic medicine | Ayurvedic, based on diet, herbs and exercise etc. Sometimes also combine allopathic medicine such as antibiotics and steroids etc. | Private/Public |
Drug store salespeople/Drug vendor/drug seller; also village ‘quack’ | No formal training in dispensing; none of them are trained in diagnosis and treatment; some learn treatment through apprenticeship or working in drug stores (‘quack’) | Allopathic; in addition to dispensing, they also diagnose and treat | Private |
Village Doctors (Rural Medical Practitioners, RMPs, and Palli Chikitsoks, PCs) | Majority (RMPs) have three to six months training from semi-formal, unregulated private organizations. Few (PCs) have had one year training from a short-lived government programme in the early ‘80s (PC training programme) which stopped in 1982. | Allopathic | Private |
Traditional Birth Attendant (Dai) | No training or short training on safe and clean delivery by government, private organizations or NGOs | Assisting normal delivery | Private |
Formal providers | |||
Family Welfare Visitor (FWV) | 1 ½ years training in government/private facilities on midwifery and clinical contraception management | Conducting normal delivery; clinical contraception and immunization services | Public/private |
Community Health Workers | Training on basic curative care for common illnesses and preventive health by government/private organizations or NGO of varying duration | Allopathic: curative and preventive/health promotion | Public/private/NGOs |