Perceived causes of malaria among market women in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. About 300 million cases occur each year resulting in, at least, one million deaths in Africa. A life threatening parasitic disease transmitted from person to person through female Anopheles mosquito bite is responsible for up to 50% of outpatients\' attendance and 40% admission in Nigeria. One major problem facing prevention and control of malaria in Nigeria is delay in health seeking due to wrong perception of the disease among others. This study therefore examined how people perceive the cause of malaria. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected among Bodija market women in Ibadan. A total of 501 questionnaires were administered to randomly selected market women and 10 in-depth interviews were conducted among selected nursing mothers. Data showed that certain misconceptions exist about causes of malaria as less than half of the respondents could link malaria to mosquito. Majority of the respondents did not know the category of people who are vulnerable to malaria while 13.8% were of the view that fair complexioned people are more vulnerable. Headache was considered as a major symptom of malaria. Level of education influenced how respondents defined malaria. Qualitative data revealed that Malaria could result from too much exposure to sun and close interaction with Malaria infected person especially among children. It is, therefore, concluded that negative perception of malaria disease still exist and this has major implication for health seeking behaviour in society where home remedy is the basic source of therapy.

African Journal for the Study of Psychological Social Issues Vol. 8(2) 2005: 335-347