Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) on Prevention of Malaria at Gode Lalo Kebele (010), Anchar Woreda, West Haraarge Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia: A Community Based Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study Methods

Abstract

Introduction: Malaria is a major public health problem in worldwide and causes high morbidity and mortality, despite global efforts to eradicate the disease. While the disease is easily preventable, curable and treatable, it remains a big health threat to many communities all over the world; most especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria affects about 5% the world’s population. It is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years in sub Saharan Africa still among the ten top leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Thus, one child dies of malaria in Africa every 30 seconds, which translates into a tragic 3000 children each day. Approximately 57.3 million (68%) of the 84.3 million population of Ethiopia live in areas at risk of malaria. According to the FMOH, malaria was the leading cause of outpatient visits and health facility admissions in 2010/2011, accounting for 15% of reported outpatient visits and nearly 15% of admissions. Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practices of Gode lalo Kebele (010) community towards malaria prevention and control in Anchar Woreda. Methods: A community based descriptive Cross-sectional study was conducted in Gode lalo Kebele (010) Anchar Woreda, from February-June 2018. A systemic random sampling technique was used to select 271 samples from general populations. A structured questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection and data was collected by volunteer health extension workers and finally data was processed and analyzed manually/Electronically compilation. Results: Most of the respondents demonstrated some understanding of malaria, its transmission and prevention methods, and the attitude of large majority of the respondents towards malaria prevention methods was positive, but majority of the respondents practiced them occasionally and there was association between some demographic Characteristics and communities’ practice of malaria prevention methods. Lack of accessibility and knowledge about where about of methods, their expensiveness makes their practicality beyond individual effort and demanded community effort. Conclusions and Recommendations: The study community had good knowledge on both malaria and its control interventions and have positive attitude towards malaria prevention methods. And most of them practiced malaria prevention methods occasionally, therefore it is recommended that Health sector officials should; increase accessibility, provide them at affordable price, increase community awareness about their availability, Study results also indicated that there was association between some demographic characteristics and communities practice of malaria prevention methods and further study is recommended to explore if there is causal relationship between demographic characteristics and communities practice of malaria prevention methods.