Ayan Ghosh^1,, Deblina Sarkar¹, Ranabir Pal², Bijoy Mukherjee³

There is an urgent need for updating key socio-economic-cultural indictors and scientific understanding on Malaria for suitable control strategies among tribal populations. The study was conducted to find risk correlates of Malaria among tribal groups. A community based analytical cross-sectional study was done among tribals of a district of West Bengal in eastern India by interview technique using standardized tool. The study participants were predominantly males (81.50% %), between 45-60 years (65.87%),one in ten had no formal education; more than half of them were associated with agriculture. One fourth of the participants reported their source of knowledge on Malaria from Newspaper/ Radio/ TV while one fourths became knowledgeable while suffering from Malaria. Majority recognized mosquito bite as basic issue (71.63%), bite at night (96.64%), breed in stagnant water (79.57%). Yet, only one fourth correctly responded that mosquitoes, after biting a Malaria patient, can transmit the disease;. Half of them identified common malarial symptom of fever with shivering and indoor dark resting place of mosquitoes during daytime. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasite was correctly known to very few (1.44%). Regarding health seeking behaviour, 40.63% preferred hospital treatment; still disease condition was deciding factor to seek formal care by 95.67%; incidentally their expectation of treatment was limited to chloroquine (84.62). Bed nets was practiced as the commonest protective method followed by draining of stagnant water. Among users using bed nets only 85(70.83%) reported using Insecticide treated nets. The present study findings could provide baseline information to design effective and sustainable Malaria control strategies suited to local conditions in the near future as unsatisfactory knowledge about Malaria among the tribals is significant risk.

attitudes, knowledge, malaria, practices, tribals