Malaria in rural Burkina Faso: local illness concepts, patterns of traditional treatment and influence on health-seeking behaviour

Abstract

Background: The literature on health care seeking behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa for children suffering from malaria is quite extensive. This literature, however, is predominately quantitative and, inevitably, fails to explore how the local concepts of illness may affect people's choices. Understanding local concepts of illness and their influence on health care-seeking behaviour can complement existing knowledge and lead to the development of more effective malaria control interventions.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Access to Health Care: Examining the Case of Burkina Faso

“…[79][80][81][82] Additionally, a good number of people patronise the traditional healing homes or herbalists. [83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90] These local healers charge less than orthodox medical practitioners and are considered more knowledgeable for certain ailments. It is therefore not implausible that the poorest would opt for them.…”

Antimalarial plant remedies from Burkina Faso: Their potential for prophylactic use

“…In addition, many patients do not seek medical care at formal health services during their illness. Recent studies on health seeking behaviour, conducted in Nouna, a village situated in the Northwest of Burkina Faso, showed that sick children are prevailingly treated at home by their mothers, using both modern and traditional medicine (Mueller et al, 2004;Beiersmann et al, 2007). Traditional remedies are obtained by decoction, maceration or infusion of different organs from several plant species (Karou et al, 2003;Sanon et al, 2003a,b;Hilou et al, 2006;Tapsoba and Deschamps, 2006;Traore et al, 2009).…”

Evaluation of 13 selected medicinal plants from Burkina Faso for their antiplasmodial properties

“…Malaria thus has a major socio-economic impact and is also associated with mortality (about 8000 deaths in 2008) and a high incidence of serious complications, mainly in children under 5 years of age. The use of traditional medicine and plants is still widespread in the country for malaria health care management, often in association with modern treatment, especially chloroquine and paracetamol (Beiersmann et al, 2007). Ethnopharmacological investigations conducted in Burkina Faso allowed us to identify 72 vegetal species used in traditional medicine to treat malaria.…”