Influence of education and knowledge on perceptions and practices to control malaria in Southeast Nigeria

The study was undertaken in southeastern Nigeria to investigate whether the people's level of education and what they know about malaria affects how they seek treatment and prevention for the disease. Pre-tested questionnaires were used to collect data from randomly selected householders and analysed using logistic regression. Higher levels of education were associated with improved knowledge and practice about the appropriate strategies for the prevention and treatment of malaria. The results thus indicate that education can have a positive impact on the malaria burden and medium/long-term improvement of overall literacy rates. As well as this, short-term health education campaigns about the causes, manifestations and control of malaria will have a positive impact on its control.