LOCAL TERMINOLOGY FOR FEBRILE ILLNESSES IN BAGAMOYO DISTRICT, TANZANIA AND ITS IMPACT ON THE DESIGN OF A COMMUNITY-BASED MALARIA CONTROL PROGRAM

This paper reviews results of several ethnographic studies that have e xamined the issue of local terminology for malaria in Africa, then pre sents findings from an on-going study in Bagamoyo District, Tanzania. The study used a mixture of qualitative and quantitative interview met hods to examine local perceptions of malaria and malaria treatment pra ctices. Although the local term homa ya malaria or malaria fever appea red on the surface to correspond closely with the biomedical term mala ria, significant and often subtle differences were found between the t wo terms. Of perhaps greatest importance, common consequences of malar ia in endemic areas such as cerebral malaria in young children, severe anaemia and malaria in pregnancy were not connected with homa ya mala ria by many people. A set of guidelines are described that were used t o determine how best to promote acceptance and use of insecticide-impr egnated mosquito nets, given these results. It is demonstrated that th e position of the term used to denote malaria in the local taxonomy of febrile illnesses has important implications for the design of health education interventions.