10 Document heading doi:10.1016/S2222-1808(11)60003-0 Malaria self medications and choices of drugs for its treatment among residents of a malaria endemic community in West Africa GTA Jombo 1 * , MA Araoye 2 , JG Damen 3 1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, PMB 102119 Makurdi, Nigeria 2 Department of Internal Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, PMB 102119 Makurdi, Nigeria 3 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Jos, PMB 2084 Jos, Nigeria Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease (2011)10-16 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease journal homepage:www.elsevier.com/locate/apjtd *Corresponding author: GTA J ombo, Department of Medical Microbiology &P arasitology, C ollege of Health S ciences, B enue S tate University, PM B 102119 Makurdi, Nigeria. Tel: +2348039726398 E-mail: jombogodwin@yahoo.com 1. Introduction Malaria fever in this new millennium is still a global disease of serious public health importance [1-3] . The disease presently accounts for over a yearly 100 million deaths worldwide; at least one death every 45 seconds, most of which (over 70%) occurring in sub-saharan Africa’s primarily pregnant women and children [4-6] . Globally still, the disease accounts for much higher morbidities and mortalities than that caused by tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and enteric fevers put together with still documented weak control methods among most communities endemic for the disease [7-9] . Anthropologists, paleontologists, archeologists as well as medical historians generally believe that malaria could have existed quite long ago in the course of human existence [10-12] . Various herbs from ancient Egyptian tombs, excavations from ancient Mesopotamia presently Iran, ancient Babylon presently Iraq, and traces of herbal medicine from China dating as far back as 5 000 BC showed different and assorted herbs for different ailments. Malaria is generally though arguably believed to be among the ailments the ancient people prepared for its cure in the afterlife [13-15] , therefore from the ancient people to date the choices of drugs for the treatment of malaria could and may have been influenced by several factors [17-19] . These include an understanding of the existence of the disease, its social as well as individual impact, and level of knowledge about availability of drugs used for its treatment [20-22] . Since the United Nations declared the year 2000-2010 as malaria decade with the constitution of the roll back malaria (RBM) initiative, efforts were made by the international ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 15 February 2011 Received in revised form 25 February 2011 Accepted 10 March 2011 Available online 28 March 2011 Keywords: Adult women Antimalaria drugs Self-medication Malaria control Malaria treatment IPT ACT HBMM RBM West Africa Objective: To assess people’s knowledge about malaria treatment which is one of the main components of the roll back malaria (RBM) programme instituted on the African Continent with the aim of bringing the disease under control. Methods: The cross-sectional study was carried out between October and December 2009, involving 3 171 adult women who were selected from households using systematic sampling methods. Quantitative information such as age, educational level, marital status, occupation, number of children and knowledge of malaria were obtained using structured and semi-structured questionnaires, while qualitative information was obtained using focussed and in-depth group discussions to complement quantitative data. Results: The modes of approach to malaria treatment were 41.1% (1 302), 36.0% (1 143), 10.7% (339) and 0.5% (15) would attend hospital/clinic, buy drugs from pharmacy/chemist shop, take traditional herbs, and take no action respectively. Factors that were found to increase the level of knowledge about antimalarial drugs among the respondents were increasing educational level, being married compared to singles, having children and increasing family income (P< 0.05), while occupation and age differences had no contributory factors (P> 0.05). Knowledge about artemisinin combined therapy (ACT) was less than 15% similar with intermittent preventive treatment (IPT); home-based management for malaria (HBMM) was not in place. Conclusions: The drug component of the RBM programme in the community should be reviewed and appropriate amends instituted in order to ensure efficiency of the overall malaria control programme in the community. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect