Knowledge behaviour and practices regarding Malaria in rural population of South Goa: A cross sectional study

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) represent a substantial burden globally as well as in India. Frequent outbreaks of malaria occur in rural areas. Implementation of preventive and control strategies largely depends on the knowledge and behavior of the community towards the disease. Hence the present study was conducted on 140 participants in a rural area of Goa to assess the knowledge and behavioral practices regarding malaria. A cross sectional study among residents more than 18 years of age was conducted for a period of two months. Almost all i.e. 93.5% participants had heard about malaria, 85.5% knew that it is preventable and majority knew that it is transmitted only via mosquito bite. Around 51.2% of the participants thought mosquitoes spreading malaria breed in dirty water. Out of total 89.3% of the participants used some form of personal protective measure to avoid mosquito bite. Government sector was preferred for health care by 46.4% of the participants in case of fever while 10% did not want to take any form of treatment. Hence providing periodic health education is essential for raising awareness, achieving behavioral change and improving the health care seeking behavior.