A study on Risky Behavior on Kala-azar Outbreak among Socio-Economically Poor and Marginalized Communities of Jhapa district, Nepal

Abstract

Background: Kala-azar is a re-emerging serious public health problem in the terai region of Nepal and one of the major threats to public health. This research aims to study the risk behavior for Kala-azar outbreak among socio-economically poor and marginalized communities. Methods: A descriptive study was carried out in two VDCs of Western Jhapa for a period of three months. The main target population was the marginalized communities having at least 2 cases of Kala-azar detected among the selected VDCs. Data was collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results: It was found that more than half of the respondents (55%) were aware regarding danger of Kala-azar. Only 48% of the respondents had good knowledge and among them only 39% had good practice. Respondents knowledge was found to be significantly associated with their practices (p<0.001). Similarly, respondents attitude also associated significantly with their practices (p<0.001). Knowledge, attitude and practices of the respondents were found to be significantly associated with their preventive awareness (p<0.001). Conclusions: The awareness regarding Kala-azar and sand fly control measures was found to be satisfactory. More emphasis should be laid on putting this knowledge into practice which can be achieved by more aggressive health education campaigns in the community through the health workers and involving schools in the community. Keywords: attitude; awareness; kala-azar; knowledge; marginalized; outbreak; poor; practice.