RESUMO
Malaria is endemic throughout Nigeria. Majority of Nigerians, 70%, live in rural areas where subsistence farming is the main occupation. Most of them live below poverty line, earning less than USD1.25 a day. Their health-seeking behaviour for treatment of malaria is infl uenced by their low socioeconomic status since cost of treating malaria varies according to type of drug prescribed and source of treatment. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess the health-seeking behaviour of rural dwellers for treatment of presumptive malaria in Gimba village, a rural community of Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was conducted during Community Diagnosis posting of trained fi nal year medical students of Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, in July 2012. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from all households in the community. Data analysis was done using STATA (Version 11. Stata Corporation 2009). Most of the respondents were farmers (69.7%). The category of household members that were most affected by malaria (presumptive) were under fi ves (47.4%) followed by housewives (26.5%). Majority of the households (73%) treated their last episodes of presumptive malaria at private drug vendor shops. There was a statistically signifi cant association between cost of treatment and place of seeking treatment (p < 0.001).The result indicated that most rural dwellers patronise unprofessional drug vendors for cheaper treatment of presumptive malaria. This jeopardizes malaria control efforts. For successful malaria control, it is recommended that the treatment of malaria should be free or subsidized and policies that favour Rural Economic Development should be implemented
RESUMO
Nigeria ranks among countries with the highest burden of malaria. In an effort to achieve the aim of the Roll Back Malaria Programme of scaling up ITN use, the Nigerian Government distributed free ITNs to many households in the country. However, several factors were associated with non-utilisation of the ITNs. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess such factors in Gimba village, a rural community of Kaduna State, Nigeria. It was conducted during Community Diagnosis practical fi eld posting of trained fi nal year medical students of Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, in July 2012. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from all households in the community. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done using STATA (Version 11. Stata Corporation, 2009). Most of the households own at least, one freely acquired ITN (82%). However, in 40.8% of such households, no member slept under an ITN the night before the survey. Farmers were more unlikely to use an ITN compared to non-farmers (RR = 1.89; 95% C.I = 0.78 –2.91). Instead of ITN, some farmers use “otapiapia” a cheap, unpatented, locally made pesticide for controlling mosquitoes. Also, respondents with low scores on malaria risk perception were more unlikely to use an ITN compared to those with high scores (RR = 1.08; 95% C.I = 0.94 – 1.23).The result indicated that several factors were associated with non-utilization of freely acquired ITNs. It is recommended that ITN distribution should be accompanied by Health Education on Malaria