Knowledge behaviour and practices regarding Malaria in rural population of South Goa: A cross sectional study
Abstract
Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) represent a substantial burden globally as well as in India. Frequent outbreaks of malaria occur in rural areas. Implementation of preventive and control strategies largely depends on the knowledge and behavior of the community towards the disease. Hence the present study was conducted on 140 participants in a rural area of Goa to assess the knowledge and behavioral practices regarding malaria. A cross sectional study among residents more than 18 years of age was conducted for a period of two months. Almost all i.e. 93.5% participants had heard about malaria, 85.5% knew that it is preventable and majority knew that it is transmitted only via mosquito bite. Around 51.2% of the participants thought mosquitoes spreading malaria breed in dirty water. Out of total 89.3% of the participants used some form of personal protective measure to avoid mosquito bite. Government sector was preferred for health care by 46.4% of the participants in case of fever while 10% did not want to take any form of treatment. Hence providing periodic health education is essential for raising awareness, achieving behavioral change and improving the health care seeking behavior.
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Introduction
World Health Organisation defines vector-borne diseases (VBDs) as human illnesses which are caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria that are transmitted by mosquitoes, sand flies, triatomine bugs, blackflies, ticks, tsetse flies, mites, snails and lice. Globally, these diseases contributes to 17% of infectious diseases burden and are endemic in more than 100 countries affecting more than half of the world population. 1 Almost 70% of these countries are low and middle income including India resulting not only in loss of productivity, but also demand higher costs for health care and eventually pose a burden on public health services. 2
Globally the most widely known VBD causing more than 400 thousand deaths annually is malaria1 .This disease transmitted via the bite of infective female anopheles mosquito & caused by a protozoa named “plasmodium” and if it's left untreated may result in severe complications and death. The two most common species of plasmodium reported from India are Vivax and Falciparum. 3 Studies done in India have shown that almost 90% of deaths due to malaria occur in rural areas. 4
India is facing a recent upsurge in the number of cases of this disease as compared to previous years, in total almost 1.09 million cases were reported in 2016 compared to 0.88 million in 2013.About 95% of the country’s population resides in malaria endemic areas and 80% of cases reported are from population residing in tribal, hilly, difficult and inaccessible areas. 5
Conclusion
In view of the above findings it can be concluded that although majority of the study participants were aware of malaria as a disease, knowledge regarding the vector breeding was inadequate due to which implementation of varied preventive measures is hampered. Most participants used some form of personal protective measure but health care seeking behavior was poor as majority were delayed to seek medical care while some preferred self medication and some taking no form of treatment. Hence providing regular and periodic health education is vital for raising awareness, achieving behavioral change and improving the health care seeking behavior.