Community response to intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) delivered through the expanded programme of immunization in five African settings

Abstract

Background: IPTi delivered through EPI has been shown to reduce the incidence of clinical malaria by 20-59%. However, new health interventions can only be effective if they are also socially and culturally acceptable. It is also crucial to ensure that attitudes to IPTi do not negatively influence attitudes to and uptake of immunization, or that people do not misunderstand IPTi as immunization against malaria and neglect other preventive measures or delay treatment seeking.

Perceptions, health care seeking behaviour and implementation of a tuberculosis control programme in Lambaréné, Gabon

“…In Gabon, the distance to the health centre is the most important determinant of survival for malaria patients. 20,26,27 Traditional healing was occasionally considered by patients to be cheaper and more convenient, in line with reports from other studies. 6,7 However, traditional healing sessions were also often expensive.…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19] In Gabon, the respondents explained TB in a biomedical (natural) and/ or traditional/religious (magical) way. This dichotomy is often described in African settings: 11,16,20,21 having natural TB explained how a patient got infected with TB bacteria, but did not explain why the person got ill. Having magical TB meant jealous people had performed sorcery on the patient. In contrast to a Tanzanian study on malaria, 21 traditional explanations were used not only when medical knowledge met its limits, such as in the case of negative test results or treatment failure; inadequate diagnostics also occasionally evoked suspicions of magical TB, which called for traditional/spiritual healing.…”

The Role of Community Participation in Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Childhood Malaria in South-Eastern Ghana

“…4,5 . The concept has recently been accepted as an important component of the malaria control strategy.…”

“…The few studies on IPT and community include; Pitt et al, on Community perception of IPTc in Burkina Faso and Mali 4 and Gysels et al 4,5 , on Community response to intermittent preventive treatment for infants (IPTi) and expanded program of immunization (EPI) in five African settings. 5 Findings of these two studies indicated that community perceptions and acceptance of IPT were widely favorable and generally accepted. Of concern to the two studies is the preference for single dose drug formulation for children under five years of age, which in their view could increase the success of IPTc interventions.…”

Combining malaria control with rural electrification : social and behavioural factors that influenced the design, use and sustainability of solar-powered mosquito trapping systems (SMoTS) for malaria elimination on Rusinga Island, western Kenya

“…Malaria control initiatives have recognised the important role human behaviour plays in this public health problem (Mwenesi, Harpham et al 1995;Williams, Jones et al 2002;Heggenhougen, Hackenthal et al 2003). It is recognized that new preventive health interventions can only be considered effective if, in addition to efficacy and safety, they are socially acceptable and widely adhered to in the longer term (D'Alessandro, Olaleye et al 1995;Alaii 2003;Gysels, Pell et al 2009), and malariarelated social science research has resulted in improvements in the design and implementation of malaria prevention, management and control strategies (Mwenesi 2005). Notably, optimising the impact of existing programmes is arguably one of the most costeffective funding strategies that international agencies and national governments can take .…”