Abstract
BackgroundMalaria remains one of the greatest public health challenges worldwide and it is amongst the top killers in sub-Saharan Africa. There is however, a general scepticism about the accuracy of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) in recording all the episodes of malaria in Africa. Given the importance of community knowledge of malaria, its signs and symptoms, as well as prompt treatment-seeking behaviour, the study assessing adult residents’ knowledge and practices in Bushbuckridge provided much needed insights into the Malaria Control Programme (MCP).ObjectivesThe objectives of this study were to determine the adult residents’ knowledge and practices towards malaria in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.MethodThe study was undertaken as a descriptive cross-sectional survey in Bushbuckridge in August 2008. Six hundred and two (602) household heads or their proxies from the randomly selected households in 20 localities were interviewed (one household member per household), using a structured field-piloted questionnaire.ResultsApproximately 93% of the respondents had heard about malaria, 84.6% of whom correctly associated it with mosquito bites. The health facility (29.1%) and radio (19.8%) were the main sources of malaria information. Knowledge of signs and symptoms was low, whilst treatment-seeking intention at the health facility was high (99%) with 82% of which would be carried out promptly. Survey data showed an indoor residual spraying (IRS) coverage of approximately 70% and a good understanding of the reasons for spraying. Walls were re-plastered infrequently and no evidence was established linking it to the removal of insecticide marks on the wall.ConclusionThe study revealed not only that householders possessed an adequate knowledge of malaria, but also that they had positive malaria treatment-seeking intentions. Their knowledge of malaria signs and symptoms was inadequate and required attention. Whilst IRS coverage needed some improvements, the reasons for IRS were well known.
Highlights
SettingMalaria remains one of the world’s greatest public health challenges,[1] killing over one million people per year,[2] and up to 500 million clinical malaria cases occur globally.[3,4] Whilst Africa accounts for over 90% of the disease burden worldwide,[5,6,7,8,9] sub-Saharan Africa is the worst afflicted malaria region,[10,11,12,13] and malaria is one of the top killers.[14]
One-third of the respondents were under 30 years old, with the average median ages of 35 (s.d. = 14) and 38 years (s.d. = 17) for female and male participants respectively
The results showed that Malaria Control Programme (MCP) is well known (99.5%, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 98.4–99.9%) by the people of Bushbuckridge, who mainly associated its functions with indoor residual spraying (IRS) activities
Summary
Malaria remains one of the world’s greatest public health challenges,[1] killing over one million people per year,[2] and up to 500 million clinical malaria cases occur globally.[3,4] Whilst Africa accounts for over 90% of the disease burden worldwide,[5,6,7,8,9] sub-Saharan Africa is the worst afflicted malaria region,[10,11,12,13] and malaria is one of the top killers.[14] Other authors[8] insist that malaria episodes in Africa are underestimated and many cases never reach health facilities, and are not captured by the health management information systems (HMIS). Given the importance of community knowledge of malaria, its signs and symptoms, as well as prompt treatment-seeking behaviour, the study assessing adult residents’ knowledge and practices in Bushbuckridge provided much needed insights into the Malaria Control Programme (MCP)
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