Julius Ajayi, Aminu (PhD Student)
Department of Sociology,
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans which is commonly transmitted through a bite from an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The disease is thus a major health problem in most of the tropical and subtropical countries in the world. However, little efforts have been placed on examining the knowledge of malaria transmission modes and the preventive methods being utilised and practised among people living in rural communities particularly in Nigeria.The general objective was to examine the knowledge of malaria transmission modes, preventive methods and practices among rural community dwellers in southwestern Nigeria. Copies of questionnaire were administered to 160 rural community dwellers to elicit information on malaria issue in the study area. It was a cross-sectional descriptive study.More than half (55.0%) and (56.9%) of the respondents were within the age bracket 20-39 years and were married respectively. Furthermore, 36.8% of the respondents had secondary education, 25.6% had tertiary education, while 18.8% had primary education and no education respectively. Majority (77.5%) and (88.1%) of the respondents claimed to have knowledge of malaria transmission modes and knowledge of preventive methods respectively while 52.5% have knowledge of Insecticide-treated net. However, 48.7% of the respondents mentioned mosquito bite as the main mode of malaria transmission while more than half (63.1%) of the respondents believed medical treatment such as prescribed drugs and injection as the best way to treat malaria. In spite of the high levels of malaria knowledge claimed, the respondents did not appear to be applying that knowledge to their healthcare-seeking behaviour.
