EVALUATION OF MALARIA AWARENESS, PREVALENCE, AND CONTROL MEASURES IN THE SOUTHERN PUNJAB AREA OF PAKISTAN: ROLE OF HEALTH PROMOTING BEHAVIOR
Main Article Content
Keywords
Physical Health, Public Awareness, Environmental Health
Abstract
For many years, malaria has been a persistent worldwide health concern. This study looked at the level of awareness, prevalence, and preventative methods for malaria among Pakistani households in the southern Punjab region. Using a straightforward random sampling technique, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to poll a total of 531 people. SPSS 25.0 was used for the data analysis, and tables, graphs, and charts were used to display the findings. According to the survey, participants had a solid understanding of malaria, its vector, and mosquito breeding grounds. Of those who took part in the research, 32% said they had malaria every year, and 75% said they knew someone who had the illness. Of the participants, 51% preferred environmental management and sanitation (EMS) as an alternative approach to vector control in the municipality, while 19.0% preferred settlement, or erecting buildings away from wetlands. About half of those surveyed think that environmental sanitation bye-laws will force people to clean up their yards, which will remove mosquito breeding grounds. Roughly half of the participants hold the view that the government ought to hire and support sanitary laborers and environmental health inspectors. Health workers in southern Punjab must step up efforts to educate the public about malaria prevention and control in order to successfully alter family attitudes toward this disease's prevention and control. It is essential that the federal and state governments increase the number of Environmental Health Officers and provide them with the necessary training in order to guarantee adherence to environmental cleanliness rules. The potential of larvicides and environmental management and sanitation (EMS) as ways to improve fundamental vector control strategies for mosquito larval control should be investigated by the malaria control authorities in the study region.
References
2. Anstey, N. M., Grigg, M. J., Rajahram, G. S., Cooper, D. J., William, T., Kho, S., & Barber, B. E. (2021). Knowlesi malaria: Human risk factors, clinical spectrum, and pathophysiology. Advances in Parasitology, 113, 1–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.apar.2021.08.001
3. Daneshvar, C., Davis, Timothy M. E., Cox‐Singh, J., Rafa’ee, M., Zakaria, S., Divis, Paul C. S., & Singh, B. (2009). Clinical and Laboratory Features of HumanPlasmodium knowlesiInfection. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 49(6), 852–860. https://doi.org/10.1086/605439
4. Davidson, G., Chua, T. H., Cook, A., Speldewinde, P., & Weinstein, P. (2019). Defining the ecological and evolutionary drivers of Plasmodium knowlesi transmission within a multi-scale framework. Malaria Journal, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-019-2693-2
5. Fang, S., & Iqra Mushtaque. (2024). The Moderating Role of Health Literacy and Health Promoting Behavior in the Relationship Among Health Anxiety, Emotional Regulation, and Cyberchondria. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Volume 17, 51–62. https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s446448
6. Karim, A. M., Yasir, M., Ali, T., Malik, S. K., Ullah, I., Qureshi, N. A., Yuanting, H., Azhar, E. I., & Jin, H. J. (2021). Prevalence of clinical malaria and household characteristics of patients in tribal districts of Pakistan. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 15(5), e0009371. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009371
7. Khalid, R., Raza, M., Selem, K. M., Ghaderi, Z., & Raza, H. (2023). Natural disaster is a wakeup call before it becomes social disaster and tourophobia of eco-destinations. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 28(11), 1226–1240.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2023.2293789
8. Khan, M. I., Qureshi, H., Bae, S. J., Khattak, A. A., Anwar, M. S., Ahmad, S., Hassan, F., & Ahmad, S. (2023). Malaria prevalence in Pakistan: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2006–2021). Heliyon, 9(4), e15373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15373
9. Khattak, A. A., Venkatesan, M., Nadeem, M. F., Satti, H. S., Yaqoob, A., Strauss, K., Khatoon, L., Malik, S. A., & Plowe, C. V. (2013). Prevalence and distribution of human Plasmodium infection in Pakistan. Malaria Journal, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-297
10. Muluemebet Fikadu, & Ephrem Ashenafi. (2023). Malaria: An Overview. Malaria: An Overview, Volume 16(16), 3339–3347. https://doi.org/10.2147/idr.s405668
11. Peterson, M. S., Joyner, C. J., Brady, J. A., Wood, J. S., Cabrera-Mora, M., Saney, C. L., Fonseca, L. L., Cheng, W. T., Jiang, J., Lapp, S. A., Soderberg, S. R., Nural, M. V., Humphrey, J. C., Hankus, A., Machiah, D., Karpuzoglu, E., DeBarry, J. D., Anderson, D. C., Ay, F., & Brito, C. F. A. (2021). Clinical recovery of Macaca fascicularis infected with Plasmodium knowlesi. Malaria Journal, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03925-6
12. Qureshi, N. A., Fatima, H., Afzal, M., Khattak, A. A., & Nawaz, M. A. (2019). Occurrence and seasonal variation of human Plasmodium infection in Punjab Province, Pakistan. BMC Infectious Diseases, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-019-4590-2
13. Raza, M., Khalid, R., & Raza, H. (2023). Surviving and thriving through a crisis: a resiliency branding approach to transform airline industry. Kybernetes. https://doi.org/10.1108/k-07-2022-1062
14. Raza, M., Khalique, M., Khalid, R., Jati Kasuma, Ali, W., & Selem, K. M. (2023). Achieving SMEs’ excellence: scale development of Islamic entrepreneurship from business and spiritual perspectives. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jiabr-02-2023-0060
15. Sarfraz, M., Waqas, H., Ahmed, S., Rurush-Asencio, R., & Mushtaque, I. (2022). Cancer-Related Stigmatization, Quality of Life, and Fear of Death Among Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 003022282211406.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228221140650
16. Sawangchai, A., Raza, M., Khalid, R., Fatima, S. M., & Mushtaque, I. (2022). Depression and Suicidal ideation among Pakistani Rural Areas Women during Flood Disaster. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 103347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103347
17. Talapko, J., Škrlec, I., Alebić, T., Jukić, M., & Včev, A. (2019). Malaria: The Past and the Present. Microorganisms, 7(6), 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7060179
18. Zaman, N., Haq, F. U., Khan, Z., Uallah, W., Ualiyeva, D., Waheed, Y., Rizwan, M., Mahmood, R. T., & Mahmood, M. (2022). Incidence of malarial infection and response to antimalarial drugs at Districts Lower Dir and Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Dialogues in Health, 1, 100035. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dialog.2022.100035
Article Sidebar
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JPTCP are licensed under Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Ahmad Ali
Department of Sociology, University of Layyah, Pakistan / Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Sociology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan - Pakistan
Bushra Khalid
Department of Bioscience, University of Layyah, Pakistan
Natasha Hassan
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Layyah, Pakistan
Sidra Tul Muntaha
Department of Psychology, University of Layyah, Pakistan
Ishtiaq Ahmad
Department of Psychology, University of Layyah, Pakistan
Noor Ul Ain Soomra
Department of Psychology, University of Layyah, Pakistan