Maternal administration of chloroquine: an unexplored aspect of malaria control.

A health education package, designed to teach women to perceive and treat episodes of malaria, was tried in a rural area of The Gambia with no tradition of home based antimalarial therapy and a poor working knowledge of malaria. During the course of the rainy season, after a period of health education, 67.9% of the study mothers dispensed complete courses of chloroquine as instructed. Mothers were interviewed either weekly, monthly, halfway through or at the end of the 6 month study. Mothers interviewed weekly gave 65% more chloroquine than mothers interviewed less frequently. The implications of morbidity surveillance on chloroquine consumption, and of the study as a whole for Primary Health Care programmes are discussed.