Project Materials

AWARENESS OF THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN THE CONTROL AND PREVENTION OF MALARIA (A CASE STUDY OF IFAKO IJAIYE LGA

ABSTRACT

Environmental factors play an essential influence in malaria transmission; thus, controlling these circumstances can help to lower disease burden. Environmental management approaches for disease control can be applied at the community level to supplement existing malaria control methods. This study evaluates existing knowledge and methods on mosquito ecology and environmental management for malaria control in a rural, agricultural region of Lagos, Nigeria. Household surveys were done with 408 randomly selected respondents from the Ifako Ijaiye local government region, while qualitative data were gathered through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that residents of Ifako Ijaiye are well aware of the linkages between mosquitos, the environment, and malaria. The majority of respondents claimed that cleaning the environment around the home, cutting vegetation around the home, or draining stagnant water can lower mosquito populations, with 63% reporting doing at least one of these strategies to protect oneself from malaria. Many respondents clearly believe that these environmental management practices are effective malaria control methods, but the true efficacy of these techniques for controlling vector populations or reducing malaria prevalence in the diverse ecological habitats of local government is unknown. More study should be done to determine the effects of various environmental management measures on mosquito populations and malaria transmission in this region, and greater participation in beneficial techniques should be encouraged.

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The great majority of malaria deaths occur in Africa, particularly south of the Sahara, where malaria also poses significant challenges to social and economic development.

Malaria is predicted to cost Africa about $12 billion in lost GDP each year, despite the fact that it could be controlled for a fraction of that amount.

Every year, at least 300 million acute cases of malaria occur worldwide, resulting in more than a million deaths. Approximately 90% of these deaths occur in Africa, primarily among young infants. Malaria is Africa’s biggest cause of under-five death (20%), accounting for 10% of the continent’s total illness burden.

It accounts for 40% of public health spending, 30-50% of in-patient admissions, and up to 50% of outpatient visits in areas with high malaria transmission rates. Malaria is responsible for more than 60% of outpatient visits in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African nations.

One of the most important ways for lowering malaria’s burden is to provide timely access to effective antimalarial treatments. Prompt access involves having treatment available as close to home as possible, so that it can be administered within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

Malaria is the primary cause of mortality among both adults and children in Tanzania, killing 100,000-125,000 people per year (CDC, 2005).

Environmental circumstances are crucial in malaria transmission because macro-environmental elements such as climatic conditions (temperature and rainfall), micro-environmental factors such as local topography, and human land use and management all have a significant impact on vector abundance.

Environmental management is an underutilised but potential vector control strategy that reduces mosquito breeding habitat by eliminating or changing stagnant or slow-moving water sources (Ault, 1994).

According to Pruss-Ustun and Corvalan (2006), environmental management might avert 42% of the malaria burden in sub-Saharan Africa.

Human activities significantly influence the transmission of infectious diseases, including malaria (Patz et al 2004; Sattenspiel 2000; Weiss & McMichael 2004).

Human-caused micro-environmental changes, such as the construction of irrigation systems and dams, have been proven to significantly increase mosquito populations by providing new breeding habitat (Ijumba et al. 2002; Mutero et al. 2004).

Malaria is thus a particularly serious problem in agricultural areas, where land use modifications attempted to improve crop yields frequently result in an increase in surface water.

Environmental management is an important component of malaria control because it may be used to regulate these micro-environmental factors, reducing the amount of slow-moving water in a region and making land less ideal for mosquito breeding.

This strategy has been effective in decreasing malaria burdens in a variety of ecological, socioeconomic, and epidemiological settings (Utzinger et al 2001).

Environmental management was first utilised on a broad scale in the early 1900s, fell out of favour in the 1940s with the introduction of DDT spraying, and was only reinstated for malaria in the 1980s (Ault 1994).