Authors: Nkulikwa Z.A, Malago J.J, William G.W.
Malaria perpetuates morbidity and mortality albeit relentless efforts on utilizing modern malaria control strategies which are in place. Could there be a missing link between strategies and implementation? Are attitudes part of the contributing factors in the persistence and recalcitrance of this pernicious disease? This paper attempts to answer these questions with respect to community members’ attitudes toward the methods of malaria control in Lindi and Mtwara, particularly toward modern malaria control strategies in comparison with traditional approaches; distribution of insecticide treated mosquito nets, and the meaningful and appropriate utilization of the distributed mosquito nets. The study was quantitative and involved 356 respondents from both study areas. Likert scale eliciting the alternative responses of strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree was employed to collect primary data as part of a questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were executed for the analysis of these data. Descriptive statistics yielded frequency distribution and percentages while inferential statistics involved Kruskal-Wallis test and Chi-square test of homogeneity. The attitudes were more positive towards modern malaria control strategies than traditional methods at the significance level of p < 0.05. Respondents from Mtwara favoured traditional approach than those from Lindi, with significant difference p= 0.004. However, there was negative attitude towards mosquito distribution, and dispositions were negatively associated with sleeping under mosquito nets. Conclusively, although the respondents had positive attitudes toward modern malaria control approaches, they had negative attitudes towards the provision of mosquito nets and their use. Therefore, it is recommended that, for effectual and efficient malaria control strategies, the interaction and interrelation of attitude, education and knowledge, as well as social cultural factors must be considered coherently.
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