Text in English / Malaria is endemic throughout Uganda and the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Malaria causes complications in 80.0% of all pregnancies in Uganda. This study attempted to identify factors that influence pregnant women’s utilisation of anti-malaria services in the Buikwe district of Uganda. These factors were contextualised within the Social Learning Theory’s major concepts. The target populations comprised pregnant women attending antenatal clinics (phase 1) and midwives providing antenatal services (phase 2) at 16 clinics in the Buikwe district of Uganda during the data collection phase of the study. Structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 400 randomly selected pregnant women and with the accessible population of 40 midwives. Pregnant women, who had progressed beyond primary school level education, were more likely to take intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) drugs and to use long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) to prevent malaria. Pregnant women were more likely to implement malaria-preventive actions if they lived within five kilometres of clinics, were satisfied with available health services, were knowledgeable about the malaria preventive measures and had used IPT during previous pregnancies. Pregnant women who implemented one malaria-preventive action were likely to implement other actions as well (Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.65; p<0.05). Midwives’ provision of malaria-preventive services to pregnant women were influenced by the availability of IPT drugs, accessibility of safe drinking water, frequency of giving health education to pregnant women, cooperation with village health teams, malaria-related in-service training, midwives’ education level and experience. Although 97.9% of the pregnant women had taken IPT and 84.2% of those who had received LLINs, utilised these nets, malaria prevention during pregnancy could be improved. All pregnant women should attend antenatal clinics at least four times during each pregnancy, commencing during the first trimester of pregnancy to receive adequate health education and prenatal services, including IPT and LLINs. All midwives should receive malaria-related in-service training. Regular audits of midwives’ records should identify and address strengths and weaknesses related to the prevention and management of malaria during pregnancy. Such actions could enhance the prevention and management of malaria, estimated to affect 80% of pregnant women in Uganda. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Background Plasmodium falciparum malaria during pregnancy poses a substantial risk to mother and foetus. In recent years, convincing evidence has shown that preventive methods such as the use of insecticide treated bed nets (ITNs) and intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) in pregnancy with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-sp) can greatly reduce the adverse effects of malaria during pregnancy. Purpose The main purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge and use of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria among pregnant women receiving Antenatal Care at the primary health centers of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Nigeria. Methods A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted Structured questionnaires were administered to 300 pregnant women aged between 18 and 49 years. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22. Results The results revealed that most of the respondents had knowledge about IPT, majority of the respondents had received IPT drugs, in the clinic, but unfortunately none of them were supervised by a health worker during taking of the drug. Few of the respondents did not take the drugs at all for fear of complication, some of them did not know exactly how many tablets were given to them and there was poor adherence to the Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) scheme. Conclusion Knowledge of malaria and IPT was good and many pregnant women received the drugs and used it, but some of them had challenges and did not use the drugs. / Health Studies / M.P.H.