Department of Community and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia, Oshakati.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2022 Aug 30;14(1):e1-e10. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v14i1.3524.
Namibia is undergoing an epidemiological transition after decline in local transmission of malaria, and the country is now in a position to move towards eliminating local transmission by 2030. However, malaria prevalence cannot be adequately explained from medical and modern prevention points of view alone. The persistence of malaria might appear as a result of not recognising sociocultural factors that seem useful in the prevention of malaria, Hence, studies on sociocultural factors are limited.
The aim of this study was to describe the sociocultural factors that influence the prevention of malaria in Ohangwena region.
The study was conducted in Ohangwena region of northern Namibia.
This study was a cross-sectional study and a mixed methods, convergent parallel design was employed.
The major theme revealed that traditional prevention methods of malaria are widely available in rural communities. The best accepted traditional prevention methods include tumbleweed, bitter bush and animal dung. Quantitative findings indicated that 67.0% of participants felt that nets are expensive. Key barriers included the long distance to access health facilities (29.1%), long waiting times (25.8%) and the lack of money to pay for services and transport (22.5%).
The limited access to and cost of Western prevention methods minimise protection because of priority and resource allocations, but it could be mitigated with the use of locally available traditional prevention practices used for many years in curbing malaria. There is a need to create awareness about socioculturally congruent malaria care.Contribution: This study has revealed the need to combine standard prevention with traditional prevention practices in the fight against malaria, and it intensified research focusing on interventions that address sociocultural factors for the prevention of malaria in endemic regions. In addition, part of the novelty of the study is establishing the need to test the efficacy of traditional practices used.
纳米比亚在疟疾本地传播减少后正在经历一场流行病学转变，该国现在有能力在 2030 年之前消除本地传播。然而，仅从医学和现代预防的角度来看，疟疾的流行并不能得到充分解释。疟疾的持续存在可能是由于没有认识到在预防疟疾方面有用的社会文化因素，因此，关于社会文化因素的研究有限。
本研究旨在描述影响纳米比亚奥汉圭纳地区疟疾预防的社会文化因素。
该研究在纳米比亚北部的奥汉圭纳地区进行。
这是一项横断面研究，采用混合方法、收敛平行设计。
主要主题揭示了农村社区广泛存在传统的疟疾预防方法。最被接受的传统预防方法包括车前草、苦布什和动物粪便。定量研究结果表明，67.0%的参与者认为蚊帐价格昂贵。主要障碍包括获得卫生设施的距离远（29.1%）、等待时间长（25.8%）以及缺乏支付服务和交通费用的资金（22.5%）。
由于优先事项和资源分配，西方预防方法的有限可及性和成本降低了保护效果，但可以通过使用多年来用于遏制疟疾的当地可用传统预防方法来缓解。需要提高对符合社会文化的疟疾护理的认识。
本研究揭示了在抗击疟疾方面需要将标准预防与传统预防方法相结合的必要性，并加强了针对在疟疾流行地区预防疟疾的社会文化因素的干预措施的研究。此外，该研究的新颖之处之一在于需要测试传统做法的疗效。
