Evaluating a malaria intervention strategy using knowledge, practices and coverage surveys in rural Bolifamba, southwest Cameroon

Abstract

We evaluated the impact of a malaria intervention in Bolifamba in rural Cameroon. The intervention consisted of educating the community on management of malaria and provision of a dispensary for early diagnosis and treatment. In July 2001, prior to the intervention, a questionnaire was used to obtain information on knowledge of and practices toward childhood malaria of 185 mothers of children aged 0-5 years. The same questionnaire was administered to 120 of the 185 mothers, one-year post-intervention. Clinical and laboratory investigations were carried out on children whose mothers were interviewed. A comparison of pre- and post-intervention data indicated significant changes in (i) the use of appropriate malaria treatment (from 50% to 81.7%); (ii) recognition of splenomegaly as a feature of malaria (from 18.4% to 80.8%); (iii) prevalence of splenomegaly (from 26.5% to 13.3%); (iv) prevalence of fever (from 27.8% to 13.3%); (v) parasite prevalence (from 60.5% to 44.2%) and (vi) severe malaria anaemia (from 2.6% to 0.0%). These findings revealed that proper education of villagers, particularly mothers, on malaria and the presence of health facilities, where treatment is readily available at affordable cost, close to villages, are important strategies that would reduce malaria morbidity and mortality significantly.

Knowledge, practices and gender discrepancies of migrant labours concerning malaria in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

“…11 So, attention must be paid to educate the community on malaria signs and symptoms; Along with our study, other studies have established that the knowledge of signs and symptoms plays a particular role on early diagnosis and treatment. 21 Gender identities, status, roles and responsibilities influence vulnerability to disease, access to health care and the impact of disease for women, men, girls and boys. 22 The social consequences of infectious disease are often more severe for women than for men and illness imposes a particularly heavy labour burden upon women.…”

Removing the User Fees for the Under-Fives' Simple Malaria Treatment in Cameroon: Effect on the Health Services Utilization

“…Access to free diagnoses and treatments have been shown to be a major determinant in malaria control [10] and despite some evidence, many countries still rely on user fees for financing healthcare [11].…”

Review: Provider Practice and User Behavior Interventions to Improve Prompt and Effective Treatment of Malaria: Do We Know What Works?

“…Educating users alone does appear to be effective at changing their knowledge of the appropriate anti-malarial or dosage; 24,26,37 however, it has been frequently shown elsewhere that changes in knowledge do not necessarily correlate with changes in behavior. 38,39 The impact on actual behavior was only measured in one study, 19 and this showed significant effects for the use of correct AM (49% in the intervention area, compared with 30% in the nonintervention area); there was no significant difference between intervention and comparison areas for using the correct dose.…”