KNOWLEDGE, BELIEFS, AND PRACTICES IN RELATION TO MALARIA TRANSMISSIONAND VECTOR CONTROL IN GUATEMALA

As part of an effort to involve community members in malaria control a ctivities, we studied knowledge, beliefs, and practices of residents o f both the Pacific coastal plain and northeastern Guatemala related to malaria transmission and Anopheles albimanus control. Most residents recognized the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission, but few kne w how mosquitoes acquired their infections or understood the risk of h aving an untreated person in their midst. If this were more widely kno wn, residents might put greater pressure on infected patients to seek timely and appropriate antimalarial treatment. Seventy-three percent o f families owned one or more bed nets; however, even though most infor mants believed that bed nets help protect against malaria, the major r eason for using them was to prevent nuisance mosquito bites. It is con cluded that efforts should be made to promote bed net use by seeking w ays to make them more affordable and by emphasizing their effectivenes s as a barrier to nuisance mosquitoes. Although residents have a very positive opinion of the National Malaria Service spray teams, it is pr oposed that cooperation might be improved if malaria workers would emp hasize the fact that house spraying reduces the numbers of nuisance mo squitoes and other pest insects, rather than focusing solely on malari a prevention, which most informants believed was less important. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding community beliefs and practices when planning or evaluating vector control activities.