Malaria Chemoprevention in Pregnant Women in Africa

Abstract

Malaria keeps claiming the lives of millions of pregnant women and children in the world, especially in developing countries. Pregnant women and children under the age of five years are the most vulnerable groups mainly because of their lower immunity statuses, compared to the general population. Efforts towards elimination of malaria by 2030, face challenges in the area of acceptability and operational feasibility of the recommended interventions, malaria chemoprevention in pregnancy being amongst them. Such challenges include physical and financial accessibility of the recommended services, besides the perceived quality of care, and social-cultural values such as norms and traditions that excessively suppress women and deny them of their right to access the recommended services in a timely manner. Many studies have focussed on issues of individual and community health seeking behaviour in relation to malaria, in Africa. The study points toward individual or community knowledge, beliefs, perceptions and attitudes or motivation in relation the recommended malaria control approaches. The vast reports available so far have prompted some biomedical science thinkers to view studies of the latter nature as no longer needed as they seem to have no significant value to add to the already established knowledge for policy and programme use. This article aims to contribute to the debate that should lead to a change in this perception and draw the attention of policy makers, programme officers, biomedical researchers, governments and development partners.