What women do to prevent and treat malaria in Ibadan

Abstract

Malaria is a life threatening parasitic disease transmitted from person to person through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria constitutes one of the health problems, which slow the level of development in Nigeria. Up to 50% of outpatients attendance and 40% of admissions are due to malaria in Nigeria. This study examines what women do to prevent and treat malaria in Ibadan. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected among Bodija market women in Ibadan. Questionnaires were administered among 501 market women and 10 in-depth interviews were conducted also among market women but who were nursing children at the time of the study. Data showed that although majority of the respondents used window nets, medicine (95.2%) and insecticide (80.0%) were mostly used to prevent malaria. Use of ITN was low with only 21.2% used it for children and 0.6% for self. Less than half of the respondents (41.9%) have heard about it. Although self-medication (38.4%) was the main method of treatment, use of herbs and hospital was on equal proportion of 30.3% and 30.9% respectively. Spiritual methods were rarely used (0.4%). There is no significant relationship between age and treatment pattern (p>0.05). Qualitative data revealed that significant others influence decisions about prevention and treatment of malaria. In conclusion, data showed that use of ITN is very low as preventive measure while a combination of therapies is used for treatment.

African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol. 9(1) 2006: 14-25