Mothers Unaware Of Causes Of Malaria - Survey Shows

Accra, (Greater Accra) 30 Oct.,

A survey conducted in three districts in southern Ghana has indicated that 42 per cent of mothers do not know that malaria is spread by mosquitoes. While 35 per cent of them said the disease is caused by too much heat from the sun, three per cent said malaria comes from the atmosphere while one per cent think it's from ''eating too many mangoes'' and another one per cent think it is as a result of stagnant water. The survey, in which 300 women were interviewed, showed that only 19 per cent of mothers know that the disease is spread by mosquitoes. It was conducted in the Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region and Awutu-Effutu-Senya and Mfantsiman Districts in the Central Region by Plan International, an NGO, under its Child Survival Programme with funding from USAID. The aim was to obtain information on the knowledge and practices of mothers of children under two years and to identify health care factors most commonly used at the household level for childhood illnesses. The child survival project is being implemented in Ghana with assistance from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG). Thirty per cent of women said they treated their children's malaria themselves, 21 went to a pharmacy, 14 per cent to a health centre while only two per cent went to a district hospital. On immunization, 19 per cent said they had not had any immunization for their children while 12 per cent give Oral Rehydration Salt (ORS) to children in diarrhoeal cases. Other areas that were studied were maternal care and respiratory illness. The survey recommended that health education messages should be developed to sensitize the people and that insecticide treated bednets should be made available and affordable. It said the Expanded Immunization Programme (EPI) should be strengthened with a better cold chain management and other logistics. The survey called for collaborative efforts between the project implementors and Non-Formal Education to introduce the adult literacy programme in the project communities since 76 per cent of respondents could not read. Mrs.. Frances Minnow Hagan, Programme Support manager of Plan International, in a speech read for Mr. Frank Van Den Hout, the Country Director, said the organisation is currently working in 120 communities in the selected districts. It is assisting about 14,000 deprived children, families and their communities. The project will cover 82 communities in the districts for four years with a one million-dollar grant from USAID. Ms Karla Steele, Director of programmes Co-ordination, Childreach USA, the parent organisation of Plan International, said the target population for the project is children under five years and women between ages 15 to 49. Dr. Derek Aryee, Project Co-ordinator for Ghana, who led the survey team, said the project will benefit other health programmes in Ghana since it will strengthen training, supervision and project management skills for partners.