Effectiveness of dengue fever prevention campaigns; a study of knowledge and practices in urban/semi-urban communities of Lahore

ABSTRACT

Dengue fever badly hits Pakistan in 2011. A large number of people died due to dengue fever. To control the alarming situation, other than treatment, work had been started at all levels. Department of Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Maal, Punjab was involved by the City District Government to work for the awareness among public for the preventive measures and practices to reduce the spread of the epidemic. Anti-dengue awareness campaigns were organized at the community level with the help of non-government organizations. A survey was conducted with the following objectives to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-dengue awareness activities [1] Public knowledge of Dengue fever. [2] Anti-mosquito Preventive Practices. A cross sectional household survey. Out of ten towns of Lahore city, Samanabad Town was selected. Januarys to March 2014. A structured interview schedule of three sections was designed. Interviews were conducted from urban/semi-urban communities. By using multistage random sampling, Out of ten towns of Lahore city, Samanabad Town was selected. Samanabad Town is consisted of 24 union councils with a population of 17 million. Three union councils 86, 104 and 112 were randomly selected. 400 household were randomly selected from these union councils for interview to ensure representativeness of the sample. Males/Females aged 15-65 and above lived in the households of Samanabad Town were the respondents. One respondent was selected from each household. In this cross-sectional study, by using Taro Yamni Formula, 400 interviews were successfully conducted with a response rate of 100%. Other than demographics, 17-items questionnaire measured knowledge and practices about awareness and dengue prevention. Descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation coefficient was used for the analysis of the data. Data was analyzed by using SPSS 20. Maturity of the community members' 76 - 92% was aware and had knowledge of preventive measures. 66 - 83% practicing regularly in the households. Data analysis indicated a positive and significant association between knowledge about dengue prevention and practices about dengue eradication [r = 0.000, p < .005]. Consistent awareness campaigns for dengue fever prevention and control enhances public knowledge and motivates individuals to adopt preventive practices in day to day routine life. To foster and maintain public interest, attractive beneficial public friendly practical economical practices need to be publicized to motivate young ones in communities. Orientation training programs of community paid health workers will be helpful to improve skills to assert effective dengue fever preventive measures and control activities to reduce the breeding sites of mosquitoes