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Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy ISSN: 2332-0877 | Volume: 6
Infectious Diseases
4
th
Annual Congress on
Neglected Tropical & Infectious Diseases
5
th
International Conference on
August 29-30, 2018 | Boston, USA
&
An exploratory study of the factors influencing the acceptability of indoor residual spraying (IRS) in upper
western Ghana
Vitalis Mwinyuri
Flinders University, South Australia
D
espite the implementation and good coverage of the WHO recommended malaria control program IRS, malaria continues to
be a very serious public health challenge in the upper west region compared to other regions of Ghana. We explored enablers
and barriers of community uptake of this program in a highly malaria endemic region in Ghana. Between April and October 2016
we conducted a qualitative inquiry, focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews with program stakeholders. Participants
included community members, program operators and health system officials in upper western Ghana. 105 participants were involved
in the study. Findings identified significant barriers to program uptake by communities including religious beliefs, superstition, and
fear of insecticides among others. Enablers of program uptake by the communities included malaria prevention, the efficacy of the
intervention, and incidental benefits. Program providers and health system officials detailed the following as a necessity to improve
implementation: effective collaboration between stakeholders and the need to intensify public education. Despite challenges from
both the program recipient and operator ends, IRS is an accepted intervention in the region. In order to improve the uptake and
effective implementation, strategies to improve community uptake and streamline operations will be needed. These findings have
policy and practice significance to improve community uptake and service operations of this novel public health intervention.
J Infect Dis Ther 2018, Volume 6
DOI: 10.4172/2332-0877-C3-045