Abstract:

Since there is a number of evidences showing that the risk of malaria (both infection and clinical disease) is higher in pregnant than in non-pregnant women, possibly due to the immunological, hormonal changes or other factors occurring during pregnancy(4), but also pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to Plasmodium falciparum infection because red cells infected with the parasite can sequester in the placenta, and thereby cause adverse fetal effects(5), Preventative strategies such as regular chemoprophylaxis, intermittent preventative treatment with anti-malarias and insecticide-treated bed nets should be practiced so as to prevent the pregnant mothers from the infection and the effects of the infection (3). Adequate knowledge of malaria prevention and control can help in reducing the growing burden of malaria among vulnerable groups, particularly pregnant women and children aged under 5 years living in malaria endemic settings(5).

This cross-sectional study was conducted at the BUGANDO MEDICAL CENTRE, Mwanza Tanzania. The aim was to determine the degree of awareness and practice of malaria prevention strategies among the pregnant women above 18 years old attending at BMC, Mwanza, Tanzania. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to three hundred and fifty-eight pregnant women attending at BMC. Majority of the respondents were 25-34 years (79.6%), married (83.5%) and 50.8% had at least primary level education. About 99.7% of the respondents had heard of Insecticide Treated Bed Nets (ITNs), 93.9% own insecticide treated nets, while only 31.6% used them regularly throughout the week. About 40.8% of the patients had heard of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) while 12.0% received drugs under IPT.

In conclusion, though this study shows a high level of awareness of the preventive strategies of malaria in pregnancy there is still a problem on the effective ways of practicing the preventive strategies so as to increase its effectiveness and hence reach to a higher level of fight against malaria in pregnancy.