Evaluation of the behaviour change communication and community mobilization activities in Myanmar artemisinin resistance containment zones

BACKGROUND: Behaviour change communication (BCC) can improve malaria prevention and treatment behaviour. As a one of the activities under Myanmar Artemisinin Resistance Containment (MARC) programme, BCC have been conducting. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the behaviour change communication and community mobilization activities in MARC zones in Myanmar. METHODS: A cross sectional descriptive survey was conducted in randomly selected 16 townships in Tier I and II areas of MARC zones by quantitative and qualitative approaches. RESULTS: In 832 households resided by 4664 people, there were 3797 bed nets. Around 54 % were untreated while 45.6 % were insecticide-treated nets (ITN) and 36.2 % were long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs). Proportion of households with at least one ITN was 625 (75.12 %), proportion of households with at least one ITN for every two peoples was 487 (58.53 %), and proportion of existing ITNs used in previous night was 1225 (70.65 %) respectively. Nearly 23 % of households had old nets while 52 % had new and unused extra bed nets reflecting the adequacy. Interestingly, 38 % could not mention the benefit of the use of ITN/LLINs. Although 88.2 % knew the disease “malaria”, 11.9 % could not be able to mention the symptoms. More than 80 % provided correct responses that mosquito bite can cause malaria while only 36.9 % could mention the blood test for malaria diagnosis. Only 36.6 % received malaria information within previous year but nearly 15 % could not recognize it. Mostly, 80 % of fever episodes were treated at rural health centers (38.24 %) followed by drug shops (17.65 %) and private clinics (16.18 %) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts should focus on correcting misconceptions about malaria transmission, prevention and universal use of ITN/LLINs. Although BCC activities have been documented, it is still necessary to intensify community mobilization through all accessible multiple channels in MARC areas.