Local understanding, perceptions and reported practices of mothers/guardians and health workers on childhood malaria in a Tanzanian district—implications for malaria control

Knowledge on local understanding, perceptions and practices of care providers regarding management of childhood malaria are needed for better malaria control in urban, peri-urban and rural communities. Mothers of under five children attending five purposively selected public health facilities in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Acta tropica Vol. 87; no. 3; pp. 305 - 313
Main Authors:	Comoro, C., Nsimba, S.E.D., Warsame, M., Tomson, G.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-08-2003 Elsevier
Subjects:	Adult Attitude of Health Personnel Biological and medical sciences Child, Preschool Comprehension Degedege Female Focus Groups Focus groups discussions Health Personnel Human protozoal diseases Humans Infectious diseases Malaria Malaria - ethnology Malaria - therapy Male Medical sciences Medicin och hälsovetenskap Medicine, African Traditional Mothers Parasitic diseases Protozoal diseases Rural Population Suburban Population Tanzania Traditional healers Tropical medicine Under-fives Urban Population Africa Tanzania Focus groups discussions Under-fives Malaria Traditional healers Tanzania Degedege Mothers Human Infection Prevention Protozoal disease Survey Mother Attitude Perception Parasitosis Health worker Child
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Summary:	Knowledge on local understanding, perceptions and practices of care providers regarding management of childhood malaria are needed for better malaria control in urban, peri-urban and rural communities. Mothers of under five children attending five purposively selected public health facilities in the Kibaha district, Tanzania, were invited to participate in 10 focus group discussions (FGDs). The health workers of these facilities were included in six other FGDs to elicit their professional views. Analysis was done using interpretative and qualitative approaches. Both health workers and all mothers were clear about the signs and symptoms of homa ya malaria, a description consistent with the biomedical definition of mild malaria. Although most of the mothers related this to mosquito bites, some did not. Mothers also described a severe childhood illness called degedege, consistent with convulsions. Most of the mothers failed to associate this condition with malaria, believing it is caused by evil spirits. Urinating on or fuming the child suffering from degedege with elephant dung were perceived to be effective remedies while injections were considered fatal for such condition. Traditional healers were seen as the primary source of treatment outside homes for this condition and grandmothers and mother in-laws are the key decision makers in the management. Our findings revealed major gaps in managing severe malaria in the study communities. Interventions addressing these gaps and targeting mothers/guardians, mother in-laws, grandmothers and traditional healers are needed.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0001-706X 1873-6254
DOI:	10.1016/S0001-706X(03)00113-X