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COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONS ON THE COMMUNITY-DIRECTED TREATMENT AND SCHOOL-BASED APPROACHES FOR THE CONTROL OF SCHISTOSOMIASIS AND SOIL-TRANSMITTED HELMINTHIASIS AMONG SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IN LUSHOTO DISTRICT, TANZANIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2009

K. MASSA
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Health, Tanga, Tanzania
P. MAGNUSSEN
Affiliation:
DBL-Centre for Health Research and Development, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
A. SHESHE
Affiliation:
School of Environmental Health, Tanga, Tanzania
R. NTAKAMULENGA
Affiliation:
National Environment Management Council (NEMC), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
B. NDAWI
Affiliation:
Primary Health Care Institute, Iringa, Tanzania
A. OLSEN
Affiliation:
DBL-Centre for Health Research and Development, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Summary

The success of the Community-Directed Treatment (ComDT) approach in the control of onchocerciasis and filariasis has caught the attention of other disease control programmes. In this study the ComDT approach was implemented and compared with the school-based approach for control of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis among school-age children in Lushoto District, Tanzania. This was a qualitative study, consisting of in-depth interviews with village leaders, community drug distributors (CDDs) and schoolteachers, as well as focus group discussions with separate groups of mothers and fathers to assess the perceptions and experiences of the villagers on the implementation of the two approaches. It was found that the villagers accepted the ComDT approach and took the responsibility of selecting the CDDs, organizing and implementing their own method of distributing drugs to the school-age children in their villages. The ComDT approach was well received and was successfully implemented in the villages. Although the villagers pointed out the limitation in reaching the non-enrolled children in the school-based approach, they also expressed satisfaction with this approach. This study suggests that the ComDT approach is well accepted and can be implemented effectively to ensure better coverage of especially non-enrolled school-age children.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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