Malaria Preventive Practices among Semi-Urban Dwellers as a Score Card Towards Achieving MDG 6

Abstract

Background: Malaria control has attracted local and international attention, an on-going effort to curtail its associated health menace. In this on-going quest to curtail its spread, different forms of preventive measures are being instituted such as health education, environmental sanitation, Intermittent Presumptive Treatment (IPT), conventional use of effective antimalarias, distribution and consistent use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) etc; which collectively ought to positively affect the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6. Objectives: The study determined the knowledge and practice of malaria prevention among semi-urban dwellers as a measure of progress in malaria control. Methodology: This was a community based cross sectional study conducted among adult females selected in each household through a multistage sampling technique. Data was obtained using an interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaires and analysed using statistical software SPSS version 17.0. Results: Forty eight percent (48.2%) had good knowledge of malaria while (28.4%) had good practices of malaria prevention such as sleeping under ITNs (12.3%); wearing of protective clothing (1.6%); clearing of surrounding bushes (2.1%); use of insecticidal sprays (7.1%); use of mosquito repellent coils (2.2%) and combination of more than one method of prevention (3.1%). Conclusion: Malaria preventive practices should be emphasized in order to facilitate the realization of MDG 6.