The Influence of Acceptability of the Roll Back Malaria Programme on Maternal Health in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

The Roll Back Malaria (RBM) initiative was conceived to bolster appreciable reduction in the impact of malaria on pregnant women through Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) and the use of Insecticide-treated Net (ITN). This study examines the association between knowledge and acceptability of the RBM programme on maternal health in Ibadan classified among areas with records of high prevalence of malaria-implicated maternal mortality. A survey of 407 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at various Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in six selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Ibadan was undertaken. This clinic based approach was adopted to ensure that selected respondents were among those exposed to the RBM programme as antenatal care clinic attendees. Results show that increase in the knowledge of RBM related activities led to a corresponding increase in acceptability of the initiative, which ultimately led to marked improvement in maternal health. Thus, there is need to ensure that more women become aware of the RBM project as the surest trajectory for positive disposition to the RBM intervention, with a predictable concomitant improvement in maternal health status of childbearing women in Ibadan, Nigeria.