Awareness on the Prevention and Treatment of Malaria among Residents in Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria

Nigeria, the most populous nation in the Sub-Saharan African region, remains ravaged with a high occurrence of malaria infections which accounts for one-fourth of malaria cases globally. Communal awareness is important in the total eradication of malaria in Africa and the world at large. This study is to ascertain the awareness of individuals in Abraka communities on the transmission, prevention and treatment of malaria. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among people of Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria, using 200 structured questionnaires. Data was presented as percentage (%) using descriptive statistics. Majority of the respondents were females (51%), 83.5% practiced Christianity, 63% of the subjects are single, and a total of 60.4% either into business, employed or selfemployed with 38% being students. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of the respondents indicated that mosquito bite is the mode of transmission of malaria and 82.5% of the respondents stated that refuse dump is the major factor that breed mosquito. A large number of the respondents (95%) have been engaged in one or more malaria preventive (control) methods. A greater percent (30%) commonly used artesunate in treating malaria, while 25% took Coartem® (artemether/lumefantrine), 23% took Lonart® (artemether/lumefantrine), 10% took quinine and 12% had other drugs they took for the treatment of malaria. There was much awareness on the spread, prevention and treatment of malaria in Abraka, Delta State.

Keywords
Antimalarial; communal awareness; artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT); Abraka.