ISSN : 2663-2187

KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS MALARIA PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT AMONG ADULTS PEOPLE AGED BETWEEN (18-65) YEARS RESIDENT IN GASABO DISTRICT, KIGALI CITY, RWANDA.

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IKUZWE Marie Angele , Dr. Habimana Amos
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.14.2024.10921-10940

Abstract

Malaria continues to remain a major health problem in Gasabo district and Rwanda at large despite of various measures that have been geared towards treatment and management of the disease. The present study is aimed to investigate Gasabo district community’s knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to malaria prevention and management, Rwanda. The study assesses the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards malaria prevention and management in Gasabo district, Rwanda. This knowledge provided information which is used in the formulation of effective and appropriate management strategies to reduce malaria transmission in the district. Understanding the local knowledge, attitudes and practices towards malaria transmission in Gasabo is of great importance to health planners, policy makers and the public in general in terms of the formulation of an integrated management strategy for malaria management in the study area. This is categorically critical as the future plans are to eliminate the malaria transmissions, and these should be linked with understanding of the dynamics of malaria transmission and malarial risk factors, which ranges from environmental to nonenvironmental factors.A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 400 adults’ people living in the Gasabo district. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select households. An electronic questionnaire developed on Open Data Kit (ODK), was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, household assets, people’ knowledge of malaria, as well as their attitudes with regards to malaria prevention, and care-seeking behaviors. The study in Gasabo District revealed that 50% of respondents exhibited high knowledge of malaria, while 32.5% had moderate knowledge, and 17.5% had low knowledge. Positive attitudes towards malaria prevention were predominant, with 68.25% of respondents showing supportive attitudes. However, 31.75% exhibited negative attitudes. Practices towards malaria prevention were mixed; 53.75% of households reported a malaria case, and 47.75% sought professional medical help, while 19.75% resorted to self-medication. Personal protective measures were inconsistently applied, with significant variations in the frequency of use. Overall, 54.39% demonstrated fair preventive practices, 19.43% good practices, and 26.18% poor practices, indicating a need for enhanced educational efforts and healthcare access

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