Paper short abstract:

In developing countries, mainly in major cities, the increasing variety of medicines available in the market creates new opportunities of choice. This paper aims to present and discuss the discourses around the conception of trust and the criteria behind those choices in Maputo, Mozambique.

Paper long abstract:

As a result of globalization processes, pharmaceuticals are nowadays part of the materia medica of all societies, assuming a large variety of meanings and particularities within different contexts. In developing countries, mainly in major cities, the increasing variety of medicines available in the market also brings new opportunities of choice - not only regarding the types of resources but also its provenience. Individuals use different criteria to choose among the available medical and therapeutic resources. Trust is one of them. But how is this trust constructed and how does it configure consumption practices?

This paper aims to discuss these questions, based on an ongoing research about the use of medicines in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The empirical data that supports this presentation was collected through the conduction of 7 focus group discussions (FGDs), with a total of 42 participants. The aim of these FGDs was to discuss, among other issues, consumption experiences and conceptions of quality, efficacy, safety/risk, etc. regarding pharmaceuticals, traditional herbs and other substances.

The FGD showed how, at a more abstract level, when it comes to trust, it is difficult to separate the discussion between resources and their providers, and more generally the medical systems behind them. This was even more evident when it comes to trust on 'science' versus 'experience', on what is formal and informal, official and unofficial. However, concrete examples showed how 'slippery' this construction of trust seems to be in practice, and how the criteria used to evaluate different resources can vary.