Table 3.
Household context, common illnesses and medicines availability
| Variable | Malawi | Zimbabwe | Uganda | ||||
| MR1 | MR2 | ZU1 | ZU2 | UU | UR | ||
| Total households (n) | 825 | 100 | 336 | 100 | 350 | 100 | |
| Setting | Urban/rural | Rural | Rural | Urban | Urban | Urban | Rural |
| Primary respondent | Age (median, range) (years) | 27 (18–77) | 42 (18–78) | 29 (18–71) | – | – | 47 (18–87) |
| Sex (n, % female) | 645 (78.1) | 58 (58.0) | 243 (72.3) | 79 (79.0) | 256 (73.1) | 56 (56.0) | |
| Household | Occupants (median, range) | 3 (1–13) | – | 2 (1–13) | 4 (1–12) | – | – |
| Primary occupation | Farmer (n, %) | – | 82 (82.0) | – | 2 (2.0) | 10 (2.9) | 89 (89.0) |
| Merchant/vendor (n, %) | – | 9 (9.0) | – | 57 (57.0) | 127 (36.3) | 1 (1.0) | |
| Labourer (n, %) | – | 7 (7.0) | – | 15 (15.0) | 30 (8.6) | 1 (1.0) | |
| Other (n, %) | – | 2 (2.0) | – | 26 (26.0) | 183 (52.3) | 9 (9.0) | |
| Common self-reported acute illnesses (top 5) |
Cold/flu (n, %) | 67 (8.1) | 5 (5.0) | 252 (75.0) | 65 (65.0) | 270 (77.1)† | 41 (41.0)† |
| Malaria (n, %) | 609 (73.8) | 80 (80.0) | 39 (11.6) | 2 (2.0) | 160 (45.7) | 77 (77.0) | |
| Cough (n, %) | 410 (49.7) | 37 (37.0) | 177 (52.7) | 26 (26.0) | –† | –† | |
| Stomach pain (n, %) | 128 (15.5) | 23 (23.0) | 220 (65.4) | 40 (40.0) | 12 (3.4) | 19 (19.0) | |
| Diarrhoea (n, %) | 175 (21.2) | 16 (16.0) | 142 (42.3) | 30 (30.0) | 39 (11.1) | 11 (19.0) | |
| Medicines are available for common illnesses | Always (n, %) | 126 (15.2) | Respondents were asked qualitatively about medicine availability* | 38 (11.3) | Respondents were asked qualitatively about medicine availability* | 293 (83.7) | Respondents were asked qualitatively about medicine availability* |
| Usually (n, %) | 297 (36.0) | 39 (11.6) | 0 (0.0) | ||||
| Sometimes (n, %) | 257 (31.2) | 198 (58.9) | 46 (13.1) | ||||
| Rarely (n, %) | 125 (15.2) | 57 (17.0) | 10 (2.9) | ||||
| Never (n, %) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | ||||
M, Malawi, Z, Zimbabwe, U, Uganda; 1larger, semi-random survey, 2smaller, purposively sampled survey; R, rural, U, urban.
*Respondents across all three countries generally indicated that medicines were challenging to access for reasons including affordability, stockouts and inability to obtain a prescription. Even where medicines were available, this was often at considerable expense to the household.
†In the Ugandan surveys, 'cold/flu' and 'cough' are grouped together because participants used language that combined these categories of illness.