Assessment of malaria as a public health problem in and around Arjo Didhessa Sugar Cane Plantation area, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Although much progress has been made in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality worldwide in the last decade, nationally malaria still remains the third leading cause of death and still considered as major public health problem. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess malaria as a public health problem in and around sugar cane plantation area of Arjo Didhessa sugar factory, Western Ethiopia. Methods: A community based cross sectional study supplemented with clinical retrospective data, which included 452 study subjects was recruited and the study period was extended from May 2016 up to November of 2017. A standardized questionnaire was used to assess malaria risk factors and blood samples were received from all study participants and further subjected to Giemsa staining for determination of malaria prevalence. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.Malaria risk factors were identified by multivariate logistic regression at significance level of P < 0.05 . Results: The overall malaria prevalence was 3.1%; Plasmodium vivax being the main type of malaria parasite. Overnight outdoor sleeping and improper utilization of mosquito bed nets were found to be statistically significant as malaria risk factors in the community. In the retrospective studies of five years, the peak malaria cases (13.84%) were reported in 2013 and lowest cases (1.24%) in 2017. Conclusions: The figure of malaria witnessed in this area remains higher than the observed national malaria prevalence indicating malaria is still remains a public health problem.Therefore, we suggest the factory administrators and health care professionals to work more on raising awareness to avoid night outdoor sleeping and effective and appropriate utilization of insecticide treated nets and regular indoor residual spraying. Key words : Arjo Didhessa, malaria, malaria risk factors