Assessing the Effects of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) on Malaria Morbidity by Anglogold Malaria Control Programme in the Amansie Central District.

Abstract

Though significant strides have been made to control or eradicate malaria, it still remains the number one killer in tropical Africa in general and Ghana in particular. Various control interventions have therefore been put in place since 1957 to help control the disease. Among other interventions has been the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) which has been implemented in the country by various agencies at various locations to help reduce the malaria burden. Despite the implementation of IRS alongside other interventions, there are still doubts as to the real contribution of IRS to the fight against malaria. This study therefore seeks to do an assessment of the IRS intervention as against others like use of insecticide treated nets, intermittent preventive treatment etc. in the fight against malaria. The cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. The cross-sectional design allows data to be collected from a selected population at a specific time based on particular variables of interest. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from the study population. The multi stage simple random sampling method was used to select its respondents and the quantitative approach was used to analyse the data collected. This made it possible to be able to draw inferences between variables. Also, data collected from the Integrated Health Management Information Systems was used to analyse data from fourteen different health facilities. This was done to assess the impact of IRS on illness caused by malaria before, during and after the indoor residual spraying. The study focused on the implementation of IRS in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region by Anglogold Malaria Control Limited by analysing malaria data from all health facilities in the district, prior to the implementation of the IRS, during the four’s year period of implementation and two years after implementation. The research revealed that, during the four year period of the implementation of the IRS programme, malaria burden in the Amansie Central district was relatively lower as compared to the period before the IRS intervention and after the IRS intervention. This was evident in the reduction in the number of malaria cases and OPD attendance during the program period (2013 to 2015) and consequently reduced the malaria incidence by 50%. At the end of the research the recommendations made were that the District Health Directorate should make efforts that ensure that beneficiaries of the intervention are involved in the program from the very beginning to the end and also prioritize public education as a way of gaining the people’s support. Finally, spraying operators should be encouraged to be polite and respectful to the people and also make it a point to recruit spraying operators from the district.