ABSTRACT
Developing countries almost universally suffer from severe health service shortages, particularly in rural areas. Manpower problems are the most critical aspect of the shortages. Iran has recently begun a massive program to increase physician supply in its rural areas by importation of physicians from India, Pakistan, and the Philippines. The present study investigated two questions: What are physicians' reasons for accepting a post in a rural area of another country, and what are the attitudes of residents in such rural areas toward foreign physicians? Results of a questionnaire survey of foreign physicians indicate that the most common reasons for physician acceptance of the posts were higher salaries and the desire to go eventually to a Western country. Results of an interview survey of Iranian consumers indicate that residents of rural areas were far more likely to prefer Iranian auxiliaries than non-Iranian physicians.
Subject(s)
Developing Countries , Foreign Medical Graduates/supply & distribution , Rural Health , Consumer Behavior , Culture , Health Services Accessibility , Humans , Income , India/ethnology , Iran , Pakistan/ethnology , Philippines/ethnology , Physician-Patient Relations , WorkforceABSTRACT
The impact of the Kavar Village Health Worker Project on contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practice was studied 14 months after health workers were deployed in this pilot project in rural Iran. Results showed that knowledge and use of the pill were significantly higher in the project villages than in control villages, where the pill was supplied by a nonresident rural midwife: 28 percent of married women of reproductive age were using the pill in project villages compared with 15 percent in control villages. The sex of health workers did not appear to affect the proportion of pill acceptors or length of use. Attitudes toward contraceptive use, however, did not vary significantly between project and control villages.
