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Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Background: The number of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has significantly reduced, thanks to more effective drugs and screening tools and regular mass screening. However, this potentially jeopardizes HAT control activities, especially community e...

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Autores principales: Kabanga, Charlie, Valverde Mordt, Olaf, Mbo, Florent, Mbondo, Medard, Olela, Donatien, Etinkum, Rinelle, Nkaji, Dieudonne, Mukoso, Bienvenu, Mananasi, Lubanza
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9589976/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36278568
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diseases10040069
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author Kabanga, Charlie
Valverde Mordt, Olaf
Mbo, Florent
Mbondo, Medard
Olela, Donatien
Etinkum, Rinelle
Nkaji, Dieudonne
Mukoso, Bienvenu
Mananasi, Lubanza
author_facet Kabanga, Charlie
Valverde Mordt, Olaf
Mbo, Florent
Mbondo, Medard
Olela, Donatien
Etinkum, Rinelle
Nkaji, Dieudonne
Mukoso, Bienvenu
Mananasi, Lubanza
author_sort Kabanga, Charlie
collection PubMed
description Background: The number of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has significantly reduced, thanks to more effective drugs and screening tools and regular mass screening. However, this potentially jeopardizes HAT control activities, especially community engagement. Methods: We used an ecological model framework to understand how various factors shape communities’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavior in this low endemicity context. Community members, frontline health providers, and policymakers were consulted using an ethnographic approach. Results: Communities in endemic areas are knowledgeable about causes, symptoms, and treatment of HAT, but this was more limited among young people. Few are aware of new HAT treatment or screening techniques. Participation in mass screening has declined due to many factors including fear and a lack of urgency, given the low numbers of cases. Delays in seeking medical care are due to confusion of HAT symptoms with those of other diseases and belief that HAT is caused by witchcraft. Conclusions: Community members see their role more in terms of vector control than participation in screening, referral, or accepting treatment. We propose recommendations for achieving sustainable community engagement, including development of an information and communication strategy and empowerment of communities to take greater ownership of HAT control activities.
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spelling pubmed-95899762022-10-25 Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo Kabanga, Charlie Valverde Mordt, Olaf Mbo, Florent Mbondo, Medard Olela, Donatien Etinkum, Rinelle Nkaji, Dieudonne Mukoso, Bienvenu Mananasi, Lubanza Diseases Article Background: The number of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has significantly reduced, thanks to more effective drugs and screening tools and regular mass screening. However, this potentially jeopardizes HAT control activities, especially community engagement. Methods: We used an ecological model framework to understand how various factors shape communities’ knowledge, perceptions, and behavior in this low endemicity context. Community members, frontline health providers, and policymakers were consulted using an ethnographic approach. Results: Communities in endemic areas are knowledgeable about causes, symptoms, and treatment of HAT, but this was more limited among young people. Few are aware of new HAT treatment or screening techniques. Participation in mass screening has declined due to many factors including fear and a lack of urgency, given the low numbers of cases. Delays in seeking medical care are due to confusion of HAT symptoms with those of other diseases and belief that HAT is caused by witchcraft. Conclusions: Community members see their role more in terms of vector control than participation in screening, referral, or accepting treatment. We propose recommendations for achieving sustainable community engagement, including development of an information and communication strategy and empowerment of communities to take greater ownership of HAT control activities. MDPI 2022-09-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9589976/ /pubmed/36278568 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diseases10040069 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kabanga, Charlie
Valverde Mordt, Olaf
Mbo, Florent
Mbondo, Medard
Olela, Donatien
Etinkum, Rinelle
Nkaji, Dieudonne
Mukoso, Bienvenu
Mananasi, Lubanza
Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_fullStr Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_full_unstemmed Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_short Communities’ Perception, Knowledge, and Practices Related to Human African Trypanosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
title_sort communities’ perception, knowledge, and practices related to human african trypanosomiasis in the democratic republic of congo
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9589976/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36278568
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diseases10040069
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