American Journal of Public Health Research, 2015, Vol. 3, No. 5A, 182-185 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajphr/3/5A/38 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/ajphr-3-5A-38 Burden of Malaria and Health Service Utilization in a Tribal Community of West Bengal State, India Ayan Ghosh 1,* , Deblina Sarkar 1 , Ranabir Pal 2 , Bijoy Mukherjee 3 1 Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine and JNM Hospital, Kalyani, West Bengal, India 2 Department of Community Medicine and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India 3 Department of Community Medicine, Katihar Medical College and Hospital, Katihar, Bihar, India *Corresponding author: dr.ayanghosh@gmail.com Abstract There is an urgent need for updating key socio-economic-cultural indictors and scientific understanding on Malaria for suitable control strategies among tribal populations. The study was conducted to find risk correlates of Malaria among tribal groups. A community based analytical cross-sectional study was done among tribals of a district of West Bengal in eastern India by interview technique using standardized tool. The study participants were predominantly males (81.50% %), between 45-60 years (65.87%),one in ten had no formal education; more than half of them were associated with agriculture. One fourth of the participants reported their source of knowledge on Malaria from Newspaper/ Radio/ TV while one fourths became knowledgeable while suffering from Malaria. Majority recognized mosquito bite as basic issue (71.63%), bite at night (96.64%), breed in stagnant water (79.57%). Yet, only one fourth correctly responded that mosquitoes, after biting a Malaria patient, can transmit the disease;. Half of them identified common malarial symptom of fever with shivering and indoor dark resting place of mosquitoes during daytime. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasite was correctly known to very few (1.44%). Regarding health seeking behaviour, 40.63% preferred hospital treatment; still disease condition was deciding factor to seek formal care by 95.67%; incidentally their expectation of treatment was limited to chloroquine (84.62). Bed nets was practiced as the commonest protective method followed by draining of stagnant water. Among users using bed nets only 85(70.83%) reported using Insecticide treated nets. The present study findings could provide baseline information to design effective and sustainable Malaria control strategies suited to local conditions in the near future as unsatisfactory knowledge about Malaria among the tribals is significant risk. Keywords: attitudes, knowledge, malaria, practices, tribals Cite This Article:. Ayan Ghosh, Deblina Sarkar, Ranabir Pal, and Bijoy Mukherjee, “Burden of Malaria and Health Service Utilization in a Tribal Community of West Bengal State, India.” American Journal of Public Health Research, vol. 3, no. 5A (2015): 182-185. doi: 10.12691/ajphr-3-5A-38. 1. Introduction More than 100 countries worldwide are known as malaria endemic zone . 216 million cases of Malaria were reported in 2010 globally. Malaria is major public health problem in tribal areas with a big contributor to morbidity and mortality [1]. In India the estimated malaria cases were 1.31 million with 753 deaths in the year 2011; more than half were infected with Plasmodium falciparum [2]. However, actual number may be more due to underreporting from private health care providers [2]. There is a significant difference in the nature of Malaria burden in tribal areas. Tribal areas are mostly endemic areas and secondly, the proportion of severe Malaria in this burden is extremely high. It has huge implication for the tribal economy and wellbeing of these communities and put further pressure on the already economically weak tribal families. There are four basic factors responsible for higher burden of Malaria in tribal areas-environmental factor, malnutrition, poor access to health services and development projects. Malaria protective measures are related to knowledge and beliefs of people; when they think Malaria risk is low, it is more difficult to implement protective measures [3]. The vulnerable segment of the population are worst affected due to above reasons [4]. Studies on knowledge, attitudes and practices are becoming more important to design and improve Malaria control activities, to establish epidemiological and behavioural baselines and to identify indicators for monitoring programs [5]. Perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes about malaria causation, symptom identification, treatment of malaria, and prevention are often overlooked in malaria control efforts. The purpose of this study was to to understand these issues related to the knowledge and health seeking behaviour for Malaria among tribals which can be an important step towards developing strategies with implications for control. 2. Methodology 2.1. Study Design A community based analytic cross sectional study was conducted from between January and March 2014 on the