Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Community mobilization is often respected as a powerful tool in ensuring the effective controlling of dengue via promoting effective and sustainable dengue vector control strategies. The current study attempts to investigate the level of awareness on dengue and solid waste management, among selected school students in Gampaha District which is the second highest dengue reported district in Sri Lanka. METHODOLOGY: Awareness programmes on dengue (transmission, vector ecology and preventive measures) and solid waste management were conducted in 10 schools belong to Kelaniya Medical Officer of Health (MOH) area selecting a minimum group of 200 students from each school within the age of 13 - 15 years. Tools such audio-visual presentations, leaflets and videos were used for the awareness programmes. A questionnaire was given to each student prior to the awareness and after the awareness programs as pre and post evaluations respectively in order to assess the general awareness on dengue and solid waste management before and after the awareness programme. One-Way ANOVA, paired t-test and multiple regression techniques were utilized in evaluation of the degree of awareness and key factors affecting the level of awareness, prior and after the conducting the awareness programmes. RESULTS: The degree of initial awareness on dengue and solid waste management of the target school community was recognized to be significantly characterized by the grade of the students and the Education Zonal Category [EZU] (into which their school belongs to) in accordance with One-Way ANOVA (p < 0.05). A significant increment in post awareness of the target school community was recognized due to the conducting of awareness programmes in accordance with the statistics of paired t-test (p < 0.05). Furthermore, based on the multiple linear regression modelling, the post awareness was significantly influenced by the grade of the students and the initial awareness (p < 0.05), regardless of the EZU (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The awareness of school students on dengue and solid waste management is significantly affected by the grade of the students and EZCs. Awareness programmes are an effective media of raising the awareness of school communities on dengue and solid waste management, while motivating them to actively contribute for the controlling of dengue, via establishing a strong inter sectorial network among schools and other relevant institutions within the Gampaha District.