Socio-economic factors influencing community acceptance of indoor residual spraying for malaria control in Kabale District, Uganda.

Abstract

Despite the government‟s effort to prevent malaria through provision of indoor residual spraying (IRS) services in Uganda, the desired outcomes have not been achieved. The social economic factors have been mentioned as key in influencing indoor residual spraying as a malaria control strategy. Despite the government‟s effort to involve the various stake holders, community acceptance of indoor residual spraying remains questionable. Therefore, the topic of this research was Socio-Economic Factors Influencing Community Acceptance of Indoor Residual Spraying for Malaria Control in Kabale District in south western Uganda. The study sought to find out the social economic factors that influence acceptability of indoor residual spraying, community knowledge, attitude and practices on use of indoor residual spraying, to find out community perceptions on use of insecticides for house spraying and lastly to make recommendations to the policy makers and implementing agencies (based on the findings) on future directions of IRS programmes Knowledge about indoor residual spraying was high amongst community members although some lacked in-depth knowledge about its procedure and benefits. This was because; all respondents; 100% (78 out of 78) understood that IRS was a malaria control strategy that involved spraying walls inside houses. On the other hand, the participants in the FGDs (Sub county chiefs, local leaders, health workers/service providers, district officials) were more knowledgeable about the type of insecticide used and the standard guidelines followed when implementing IRS. Generally decision making on acceptance or refusal of indoor residual spraying was done by house heads. Findings suggest numerous reasons that explain the factors influencing indoor residual spraying as a malaria control strategy. These included; it was a government led strategy that had to be accepted; cumbersome exercise that involved carrying things in and out of the house; economically malaria had become a burden in terms of treatment costs. Environmental concerns reported were that the insecticides used would lead to destruction of crops and animals. These needed to be addressed in order to overcome the social economic challenges influencing acceptance of indoor residual spraying as a malaria control strategy.