Prof. Pankaja Raghav

Professor and Head,
Department of Community Medicine Family Medicine,
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur

Title of the project (CB): Community Behavior and its determinants in relation to Malaria prevention and control in Rajasthan
Summary:
Malaria, one of the most seasoned and deadliest diseases has had a long and checkered history in India. In 1897, Ross. R, a British Army Officer, established the mosquito has an indispensable connection in causing malaria and stirred public health researchers with respect to the chance of eliminating malaria and the war continues till the date. In November 2015, the Prime Minister of India joined 17 Asia Pacific pioneers in underwriting an agreement and guide to dispose of malaria in India by 2030. India further promised to accomplish this objective by 2027 -the countdown begins now. As part of the national framework of maria elimination, the investigators would like to conduct a detailed approach on Community behavior and its determinants in relation to malaria elimination for developing and implementing a scalable community engagement model, with the main objectives of identifying the behavioral barriers of at-risk communities regarding acceptance and use of available preventive measures and exploring early and effective healthcare-seeking behavior towards Malaria. The study involves a mixed study approach with cross-sectional and phenomenological design. The study sites are Malaria prone districts in Rajasthan: Jodhpur Bikaner Urban and Bikaner Rural. The whole village households will be the study participants and Grid sampling will be used for data collection. At the end of the two years of the highest level commitment study, the derived community engagement model paves the way for a paradigm shift in the surveillance approach, tailoring the program planning to high endemic to low endemic areas, to reach Malaria free India.
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