Perception about malaria and understanding of malaria prevention information in selected rural communities of Nigeria

Studies have shown that social and cultural factors affect how people perceive diseases. Thus; the area of perception about malaria has been the focus of several scholarly interventions. However there has been limited investigation of the perception of people and their understanding of malaria prevention information in Nigeria. This study; anchored on the Health Belief Model; investigated the perception of selected rural dwellers in Oyo and Osun states; Nigeria; about malaria and their understanding of available malaria prevention information provided by Roll Back Malaria (RBM) in the two states. The study used Survey; Focus Group Discussion and analysis of secondary data. There were 2120 survey respondents selected through multi-stage sampling across 10 local government areas of Oyo and Osun states and 96 participants in 16 focus groups involving men; women and expectant mothers. The results show that while the symptoms of malaria are well understood; the etiology is incorrectly believed. The respondents’ recollection of the malaria prevention messages was low due to their limited exposure to the available information. Pearson Chi-Square test indicated significant relationship between perception of the rural dwellers and their utilisation of malaria prevention information. It is important to understand the perception dynamics that drive attitude towards malaria prevention as part of efforts towards achieving the SDG Goal3. Government should encourage broadcast stations to air malaria prevention jingles regularly; not based on programme funding; but as a part of social service among other efforts at devoting more resources to communication activities on the disease.