| dc.description.abstract | Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia), is a one of the major tropical diseases affecting many people in
developing countries, and is considered the second most important human parasitic disease after
malaria in terms of morbidity and mortality. The availability of effective and safe drugs for
treatment has led to its use in the global implementation of IllC:ls~ drug administration (MDA), at
the recommendation of World HealthOrganization. Despite lllanystl.idiesadvocating)hesuccess
ofMDAprogramsfor control, successes are often short-lived because of a variety of mitigating
factors that include knowledge sharing with.affected communities and effective communication.
A study was conducted in Kisumu West Sub-County, Kenya, with the broad objective of
evaluating the effectiveness of pre-study health information communication on Bilharzia control,
to-fhe- stuciycOn:lll1unity-:---Specifically-the-studysought to 'determine post study community
perception on bilharzia and to identify and describe factors for acceptance of information
provided during the health information campaigns in the study site. This was both a qualitative
and quantitative study, adopting the health belief model which operates at the intrapersonallevel
and attempts to predict health related behaviour. The study population comprised 134 key
informant respondents drawn from teachers of primary school teachers, parents' school
representatives, head of households, village elders, public health officers and local administration
officers. A total of 25 interviews were conducted with16 primary school teachers, 8 parents'
representatives, 87 heads of households, 13 village elders, 1 public health officer, and 9 local
administration officers. Teachers, local administration and parents' representatives were
purposively sampled and randomly selected from the schools and community. The questionnaire
was pre-tested to ensure the validity and reliability of the results. Post study appreciation of
MDA and the level of knowledge on bilharzia was low for a community that had just undergone
MDA for five years, and who had undergone pre-study training. 56% of respondents found the
educators very competent; a small section (4%) ofthe respondents were unsure of competence of
health educators. Only 27.7% of respondents saw MDA as necessary, while 30% of the
respondents reported no knowledge of schistosomiasis. Strategies, like radio call-in sessions and
involving health officers, church leaders, and village elders in the community offered collateral
benefits, such as perceived security for the CHWs during the exercise. However, some of the
respondents still believe that religion and traditional doctors could cure bilharzia. Print and
electronic media was reported as the main source of information (42.2%). 30% and 21% of the
respondents who participated in the schistosomiasis campaign found it to be satisfactory and
very satisfactory respectively. The involvement of church leaders and other key community
decision makers in the campaign was found to be key. The study concluded that the effectiveness
of awareness campaigns on bilharzia in Kisumu West Sub-County is commendable. The study
recommends use of age specific materials on future bilharzia awareness campaigns. | en_US |
