Communication in Malaria Control [paper]

Why Does It Matter? by Alison Dunn

This paper explores how community-level communication can engage the most vulnerable people - such as children under 5 years of age and women in the economically poorest communities in Africa - in strategies to prevent and treat malaria. It is based on the premise that current malaria control strategies rely predominantly on individuals and communities to take action to protect and treat themselves, such as by hanging insecticide-treated bed nets and (as is sometimes the case) impregnating them at timely intervals, often at the user's expense. Such strategies will only succeed, the author argues, if there is effective, contextual communication and genuine understanding around the causes, symptoms, and means of preventing and treating malaria. Communication approaches to malaria control that engage with local communities in participatory ways go beyond message delivery and social marketing and move toward a genuine exchange of understanding between agencies and local people as to what will work best in the local context. Dunn stresses that communication needs to be included in the process of malaria control from the initiation of activities, not as an afterthought or add-on. This means thinking strategically about communication from the planning stages through to implementation and evaluation.http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1898.html