Barriers and facilitators to the uptake of malaria interventions among pregnant women in Yendi municipality, Ghana
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Date
September, 2019
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Abstract
Introduction
In 2012, the WHO revised its recommendations and now necessitates that in addition to LLINs, at least three doses of SP be given to all pregnant women at each scheduled antenatal care visit (ANC) beginning as early as possible in the second quarter and given at intervals of one month (Amankwah and Anto, 2019). These treatments are inexpensive and cost-effective. However, access to and use of these interventions by pregnant women is extremely low. The study therefore sought to ascertain the barriers and facilitators to the uptake of malaria interventions among pregnant women in Yendi Municipality.
Methodology
This was a case study of 394 pregnant women within communities in three sub-districts in Yendi Municipal. Structured questionnaires and Focus Group Discussions were used to collect data on pregnant women’s socio demographics, knowledge of malaria in pregnancy and its interventions, and the barriers and facilitators to the uptake of these interventions. Thematic presentations were used for manual analysis of qualitative data after tape recording and transcription. Quantitative data was analysed using Stata12. Categorical variables were presented as frequencies and associations were assessed using chi-square analysis with 95% confidence intervals.
Results
A total of 394 pregnant women at 16 weeks or more gestational age were studied. This research has shown that pregnant women are conscious of malaria, but they still lack extensive understanding of the disease. Some barriers could be attributed to supply-side problems and inadequate knowledge about the benefits of the recommended interventions, especially IPTp-SP. There were reports of side effects which affect their perception about the interventions. It was found that mothers participated in the uptake of the interventions because they were fairly knowledgeable about their benefits, especially LLINs. Also, their uptake of IPTp-SP was because SP is part of the ANC routine drugs.
Conclusion
There is the need for concerted behavioural communication intervention to improve the knowledge of malaria regarding malaria prevention measures, causes and benefits of the uptake of recommended interventions.
Description
This dissertation is submitted to the kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Award of Masters of Public Health in Health Education and Promotion.
Keywords
Malaria interventions, Pregnant women, Yendi