There is increasing recognition that efforts to improve global health cannot be achieved without stronger health systems. Interpretation of health system strengthening (HSS) has varied widely however, with much of the focus to-date on alleviating input constraints, whereas less attention has been given to other performance drivers. It is important to distinguish activities that support the heal...

An experimental hut study was conducted on the biting and house resting behavior of Anopheles darlingi in the rainforest of Suriname. Of all anophelines collected on human bait at indoor and peridomestic sites, An. darlingi comprised 100% and 98%, respectively. A single peak in biting activity occurred around 2300 h. With hourly exit trap collections, a peak of exit from the hut was observed at...

Despite existence of effective tools for malaria control, malaria continues to be one of the leading killer diseases especially among under-five year children and pregnant women in poor rural populations of Sub Saharan Africa. In Tanzania Mainland the disease contributes to 39.4% of the total OPD attendances. In terms of mortality, malaria is known to be responsible for more than one third of d...

OBJECTIVE To investigate risk factors, including reported net use, for Plasmodium infection and anaemia among school children and to explore variations in effects across different malaria ecologies occurring in Kenya. METHODS This study analysed data for 49 975 school children in 480 schools surveyed during a national school malaria survey, 2008-2010. Mixed effects logistic regression was use...

BACKGROUND Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) have been identified as a key strategy in addressing malaria problem among young children and pregnant women. Their utilisation among under fives, however, have been found to be low in some areas. OBJECTIVE To identify factors affecting net utilisation (sleeping under insecticide treated net) among caregivers of under fives in Makueni District in Ken...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether the development and implementation of a community health worker (CHW) project in rural Kenya was associated with an increase in knowledge about malaria and the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in children under five years of age. METHODS A baseline knowledge and behavior questionnaire, adopted from the Kenyan Demographic Health Survey, was conducted in August...

The spread of resistance to pyrethroids in the major Afrotropical malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae s.s. necessitates the development of new strategies to control resistant mosquito populations. To test the efficacy of nets treated with repellent and insecticide against susceptible and insecticide-resistant An. gambiae mosquito populations, we impregnated mosquito bed nets with an insect repell...

BACKGROUND Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Uganda particularly among children under 5 years of age. OBJECTIVES The study assessed the knowledge and practices on malaria prevention in 2 rural communities in Wakiso District, Uganda with emphasis on the various prevention methods. METHODS The study was a cross-sectional survey carried out among 376 households using b...