Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118357

Genevieve Mwale, MSC Nursing, health, HSSP/JHPIEGO, P.O. Box 50377, Lusaka Zambia, 8 Ngumbo Road, Longacres P.O. Box 36873, LUSAKA, Lusaka, 15100, Zambia, 260 95 945787, genevieve_mwale@hotmail.com and nawa Silayambe, MD, Central Board of Health, National Malaria Control lCentre, National Malaria Control Centre, Chainama College of health SciencesP.O. Box 32509 Lusaka Zambia, Lusaka, 1500, Zambia.

Rural women studied identified that women were not taking antimalarial drugs in pregnancy due to lack of knowledge on chemoprophylaxis, lack of knowledge on the sources of chemoprophylaxis, lack of knowledge on the complications of malaria in pregnancy, inadequate information from the health providers and non traditional health workers on the importance of taking antimalarial prophylaxis. The study also demonstrated that over 79 % of the provers at the health centres prescribing the antimalarial drugs were non traditional health providers. Despite 63.5 % of pregnant women stating that they had been given some chemoprophylaxis the taking of antimalarial drugs in pregnancy was the least common message for the prevention of malaria in pregnancy that the respondents had heard from non health providers who were the major source of information on prevention strategies. In conclusion the study found that women were not taking anti malaria drugs in pregnancy because of lack of access to adequate information on chemoprophylaxis in pregnancy and the safety of chemophrophylaxis in pregnancy even amongst providers. Providers at grass root level whether community health care providers or health centre providers do not have adequate information on chemoprophylaxis.

The study recommends that there is need to orient non tratitional health care providers and all cadres of staff at health centre level on prevention of malaria in pregnancy and actively involve all communities in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy in order to ensure compliance with IPT. There is also need to ensure that policies should be made that address the need to activlty involve non health provbiers in the effort to improve maternal health. However there is further need to do another study as this study was undertaken just when the policy change was being implemented and there could be improvements now that the policy has been in place for the past one year.

Learning Objectives:

at the end of this session th eparticipatns will;
• Identify the challenges facing rural women in accessing quality health care serivces.
• Understand the challenges facing poor countries in providing quality care to improve maternal health in the abscence of skilled health attendants. Describe the current strategies non policy strategies of non traditional health care providers in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy.
• Advocate for strategies that utilise the non traditional health workers in improving maternal health.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, African American

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation