This paper investigates the determinant factors affecting the demand for self-treatment. Specifically, the empirical results have shown a strong evidence to support our theoretical model. This analysis is based on a large nationwide sample of Vietnamese Household Living Standard Surveys conducted in 2006. | RESEARCHES & DISCUSSIONS Self-treatment is playing an essential role in providing primary health care services for patients with minor ailments and cost efficiency in developing countries as well as developed countries where many hospitals are operating beyond their capacity and the quality of health care services in state-run hospitals is a great concern. This paper investigates the determinant factors affecting the demand for self-treatment. Specifically, the empirical results have shown a strong evidence to support our theoretical model. This analysis is based on a large nationwide sample of Vietnamese Household Living Standard Surveys conducted in 2006. Keywords: Vietnam, health care, self-treatment, pharmacies I thank Dr. Zhiqiang Liu, Dr. Goncalo Monteiro and Dr. Qingyan Shang at the State University of New York at Buffalo for comments and suggestions during three presentations from the first draft paper to the final one. I also thank Dr. Peter Morgan and Dr. Gilad Sorek for giving most insightful comments thereby making this paper more meaningful and interesting. Responsibility for any errors remains my own. 1. Introduction 52 Self-treatment becomes a generally acceptable practice for many medical conditions such as minor ailments, and is perceived to cost less than both outpatient and inpatient treatment. For instance, the recent health care campaigns for promoting self-treatment of minor ailments have become dramatically impressive when one research shows that unnecessary general practitioner (GP) consultations for minor ailments instead of self-treatment are costing the National Health Service (NHS) £2 billion a year. Specifically, some governments have recently changed the regulations of prescribed medications and pursued their efforts to promote self-treatment. For example, the telephone helpline service in the UK provides basic home care advice on the most common symptoms. Rogers et al. (1998) argued that the government should support .
