ABSTRACT
Objective:To document plants used in traditional treatment of malaria in the Awash-Fentale District,the Afar Region of Ethiopia,and to evaluate antimalarial activity of selected ones against Plasmodium berghei in mice.Methods:Semi-structured interviews were carried out with purposively selected informants in the District to gather information on plants used in the traditional treatment of malaria.Standard procedures were used to investigate acute toxicity and a four-day suppressive effect of cmde aqueous and ethanol extracts of the leaves of the two most frequently cited plants [Aloe trichosantha (A.trichosantha) and Cadaba rotundifolia (C.rotundifolia)] against Plasmodium berghei in Swiss albino mice.Results:The informants cited a total of 17 plants used in the traditional treatment of malaria in Awash-Fentale District.Plant parts were prepared as infusions or decoctions.Leaf was the most commonly cited (44％) plant part,followed by stem (22％).Shrubs were the most frequently cited (63％) medicine source followed by trees (21％).Of the 17 plants,C.rotundifolia and A.trichosantha were the most frequently mentioned plants in the district.Ethanol extracts of the leaves of C.rotundifolia and A.trichosantha suppressed P.berghei parasitaemia significantly accounting for 53.73％ and 49.07％,respectively at 900 mg/kg.The plants were found to be non-toxic up to a dose of 1 500 mg/kg.Conclusions:Seventeen plant species were reported to be used for treatment of malaria in the Awash Fentale Distinct,among which A.trichosantha and C.rotundifolia were the most preferred ones.P.berghei suppressive activity of these plants may partly explain their common use in the community.
ABSTRACT
Background: Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) reduce malaria related mortality and morbidity significantly. Taking this into account; the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health has been distributing ITNs to malaria prone areas of the country through the support of the Global Fund. Objective: To study distributional coverage and assess the knowledge and utilization of insecticide treated nets in Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 17 malarious districts targeted for the first phase free distribution of long lasting insecticide treats nets (LLITNs) by the Ministry of Health in 9 administrative regions from October 2005 to September 2006. Region specific list of malarious districts where MOH distributed ITNs was used as the sampling frame for stratified random sampling of districts. One kebele (sub district) was selected from each of the selected districts using simple random sampling; and 15of the total households in the selected kebeles were selected using systematic random sampling. Upon obtaining informed consent from the household head or the oldest person in the household the questionnaire was administered and information was recorded. Data were double entered using EpiData version 3 and analyzed using SPSS version 12. Results: A total of 3131 households were visited; and 51.6of the respondents were males. The overall ITN distribution and utilization were 97.6and 81.6; respectively. The majority of households (53.2) owned a single net per family; highest in Dire Dawa (93.7) and lowest in Afar (17.6). Thirty eight percent of the respondents owned two nets per household. Most of the respondents (91.1) cited that ITNs are useful to control malaria either through prevention of mosquito bites (60) or prevention of the disease (39). Conclusion: ITN distribution; utilization; knowledge of users and its acceptability were good considering the recent introduction of the products. However; the person net ratio gap should be narrowed and emphasis needs to be given to vulnerable groups