Abstract
BackgroundIn Mozambique, socio-economic and cultural factors influence the wide adoption of disease preventive measures that are relevant for malaria control strategies to promote early recognition of disease, prompt seeking of medical care, sleeping under insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and taking intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women. However, there is a critical information gap regarding previous and ongoing malaria social and behavioural change (SBC) interventions. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices of beneficiaries of SBC interventions.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional survey was undertaken in 2018 in two rural districts of Zambezia Province, Mozambique. A structured questionnaire was administered to 773 randomly selected households. Respondents were the adult heads of the households. Descriptive statistics were done.ResultsThe main results show that 96.4% of respondents recalled hearing about malaria in the previous 6 months, 90.0% had knowledge of malaria prevention, and 70.0% of preventive measures. Of the 97.7% respondents that had received ITNs through a mass ITN distribution campaign, 81.7% had slept under an ITN the night before the survey. In terms of source of health information, 70.5% mentioned the role of community volunteers in dissemination of malaria prevention messages, 76.1% of respondents considered worship places (churches and mosques) to be the main places where they heard key malaria prevention messages, and 79.1% asserted that community dialogue sessions helped them better understand how to prevent malaria.ConclusionsResults show that volunteers/activists/teachers played an important role in dissemination of key malaria prevention messages, which brought the following successes: community actors are recognized and people have knowledge of malaria transmission, signs and symptoms, preventive measures, and where to get treatment. There is, however, room for improvement on SBC messaging regarding some malaria symptoms (anaemia and convulsions) and operational research is needed to ascertain the drivers of malaria prevalence and inform the SBC approach.
Highlights
In Mozambique, socio-economic and cultural factors influence the wide adoption of disease preventive measures that are relevant for malaria control strategies to promote early recognition of disease, prompt seeking of medical care, sleeping under insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and taking intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women
social and behavioural change (SBC) interventions are widely used in malaria prevention and control programmes to promote appropriate care-seeking and provision and utilization of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS)
Most malaria prevention strategies are centred on human behaviour and SBC interventions are a key part of the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) malaria strategy
Summary
In Mozambique, socio-economic and cultural factors influence the wide adoption of disease preventive measures that are relevant for malaria control strategies to promote early recognition of disease, prompt seeking of medical care, sleeping under insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and taking intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases of malaria globally, the vast majority (93%) in the African region [1]; Mozambique is one of the six countries to account for more than half of all malaria cases It is de Sousa Pinto et al Malar J (2021) 20:293 important to understand the factors that contribute to such a high disease burden in the country. SBC interventions are widely used in malaria prevention and control programmes to promote appropriate care-seeking and provision and utilization of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) These interventions play an important role in increasing knowledge and creating awareness and the demand for prevention and treatment programmes [4]. Behavioural research is useful for evaluation of SBC interventions
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