Demand for AYUSH Healthcare in India: Multinomial Logit Estimation of the Utilisation of Indian System of Medicine

T. Lakshmanasamy

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of the allopathic system of medicines, the indigenous non-allopathic systems of medicine are widely practiced and used in India. The increasing healthcare costs of the modern corporate type of hospitals and the less expensiveness of local herbal medicines drive the use of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) hospitals for the treatments of chronic diseases, acute illness episodes, maternity health care and catastrophic health expenditure. Within the AYUSH healthcare system, there are state-wise differentials in the use of AYUSH systems of medicine. The present paper analyses the use of the AYUSH healthcare system in India using the 68th round (2011–2012) of National Sample Survey Organisation data for the four southern states of India—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu—applying the multinomial logit method to estimate the number of visits to the AYUSH hospitals by household members. The estimated results show that the relative probability of choosing the AYUSH treatment and the number of visits to AYUSH hospitals is influenced significantly by the cost of medical expenditure, wealth/income/landholding, household size and composition and region. The occupation, household headship and community of the household have no significant effect on the use of AYUSH hospital healthcare in southern India.

Abstract

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