Perception of people towards government intervention strategy for malaria spread

Abstract

This study was aimed at establishing the perception of people in Bwaise III towards government intervention for malaria spread. It involved 155 respondents each from a household in the five zones of Bwaise III namely Bokasa, Kalimali, Bugalani, St. Francis and Katoogo zones. A crosssectional study design was used in the study and the study population comprised of 3 key focus groups i.e. a member from a household, local leaders and health care providers in each zone to provide qualitative data. The data was collected using simple random sampling. The data collection tools employed were Interview guides and personal observation and for triangulation purposes qualitative was needed to supplement quantitative findings. The results show that 89% had mosquito nets which they either got from government or bought for themselves and 11% not owning a mosquito net. 51.6% owned mosquito nets distributed by the government, 14.8% owned both the government and self-bought nets, 22.6% of the respondents bought for themselves the mosquito nets while 11% had no mosquito nets. 85.2% sleep and own mosquito nets the while 14.8% did not sleep in a mosquito net. 25.8% acknowledged use of net for other function, while 74.8% responded that apart from preventing mosquito bites, mosquito nets serve no other functionS. 82.1% for primary level as the highest level of education slept and had a net, 84.8%for secondary as the highest level of education slept, 87.5% for tertiary as the highest level of education, had and slept in a mosquito net and 100% for non-formal out of the total sampled for each level slept and owned a mosquito net. 82.8% for primary, 91.1% for secondary, 87.5% for tertiary as the highest level and 100% for non-formal level, out of the total sampled for each level, possessed mosquito nets. Pearson correlation coefficient(r = -0.133) shows that there no significant correlation between educational level and possession of mosquito nets. Therefore mosquito net ownership is independent of education level. Conclusions included; half of the people received government distributed nets. Most people in Bwaise III have a positive perception towards mosquito nets as a malaria control strategy. Education level of a person does not determine possession or sleeping under mosquito net therefore low levels of education doesn’t affect possession of mosquito nets.