Awareness on malaria among healthcare providers and public during the prevention of re-establishment phase in Sri Lanka

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Prevention of re-establishment of malaria is a challenge for Sri Lanka due to the country’s high receptivity and importation risk. As imported malaria cases are being reported, awareness on malaria among both healthcare providers and the public is crucial to anticipate a resurgence and re-establishment of malaria in the country.OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to assess the awareness on malaria among healthcare providers and the public during the prevention of re-establishment phase immediately after “malaria-free” certification by the World Health Organization (WHO).METHODOLOGY Two national surveys were conducted among 766 healthcare providers and 3454 households in 2016/17. Healthcare providers’ survey was conducted using stratified random sampling and administering a self-administered questionnaire. The household survey was conducted using multistage cluster sampling method. A marking scheme was developed and adjusted binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between awareness and socio-demographic and economic factors, using IBM SPSS version 20 statistical software package.RESULTS The mean score for awareness on malaria among healthcare providers was 54.7% (SD=10.6%) and the heads of households was 28.6 % (SD = 9.03%). Awareness among healthcare providers was significantly associated with the sector of the institution, type of institution, but not with ever seen a malaria case. For the heads of households, awareness was significantly associated with age group, family income/wealth quintile, sector of residency, ever heard about malaria, seen/heard messages about malaria in the past 6 month and had been overseas within the last 3 years.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The awareness on malaria among healthcare providers and public in Sri Lanka is poor during the prevention of re-establishment phase. Awareness programmes should be conducted for both public and healthcare providers to keep malaria on the radar through television, mobile phones and newspapers. Updates about malaria should be regularly conducted for healthcare providers.