Comprehensive Family Hygiene Promotion in Peri-Urban Cape Town: Gastrointestinal and Skin Disease Reduction in Children Under Five

Abstract

were considered to conform to the 2005 antimalarial policy if ArtemetherLumefantrine (AL) was prescribed for uncomplicated malaria or if Quinine was prescribed for treatment failure or complicated malaria Results: The most prescribed antimalarials for uncomplicated and complicated malaria were Coartem (n = 564, 88.5%) and Quinine (n = 66, 84.6%) respectively. Chloroquine, SP, Chloroquine + SP, Coartem+QNN were prescribed in some cases. Prescribers conformed to the 2005 antimalarial treatment policy in 88.1% (n = 630) of the prescriptions. Independent predictors of conformity to the 2005 antimalarial treatment policy were: duration in service of more than 6 years (OR = 3.40. CI = 1.24—9.33), prescriber’s level of training (OR = 97.51, OR = 27.29—348.34) and diagnosis of uncomplicated malaria (OR = 1.99, 1.22—3.26) Conclusions: The majority of health workers conformed to the new treatment policy, however, a few prescriptions were contrary to the treatment guidelines. It is important to ensure that pertinent information, education and communication with health workers is done to promote behavior change and effective uptake of policy changes.