(1994; 54 pages)

3.3.2 Qualifications of provider who administered last injection
In Busoga, attention was also extended to the training of the person who administered the last injection, and results show that out of 359 injections administered, 178 (49.6%) were administered by persons with no formal training, 170 (47.4%) by trained staff, and 11 (3.0%) by physicians (see Table 8), The qualifications of the person actually administering the injection cannot be assumed on the basis of where the injection was given. People without formal training, commonly nursing aids, were found giving injections in government health units, while trained nurses or midwives sometimes gave injections to their neighbours in their homes.
Table 8: Qualifications of provider who administered last injection in Busoga Region
Frequency |
Percentage |
|
Person without formal training |
178 |
49.6% |
Nurse, midwife, allied staff |
170 |
47.4% |
Physician |
11 |
3.0% |
In the remote and semi-rural areas, non-biomedically trained providers are often relatives who offer a free service or persons within the locality who charge reasonably or offer credit services, It is most unlikely that a patient will travel a long distance to seek injection treatment, especially if in the neighbourhood there is some one who can provide the same service. Survey results show that various community members comprise one of the major sources of injection treatment. People obtain treatment from someone they already know or from someone recommended by family or friends. For example, of the 360 households visited in Busoga, 115 of them reported having received injections from a neighbour, relative, friend, parent, family doctor or locally recommended provider. Giving an injection is seen as a technical exercise. Rural lay people seem to assume that anybody who has adequate familiarity with the gadgets involved can provide an injection and cure the ill. In fact, some people mentioned that injections were substantively the same whether provided by biomedically trained or untrained persons.