HEALTH IMPLICATIONS AND THE PROBLEM OF MALARIA AMONG ADULT

Abstract

The study is appraisal of building maintenance practice among landlords in Niger central senatorial zone of Niger state. The specific purposes of the study were to find out the importance of building maintenance among landlords in Niger Central Senatorial District, find out the responsibilities of landlords and the rights of tenants in building maintenance practice in Niger Central Senatorial District and determine the factors affecting building maintenance practice among landlords in Niger Central Senatorial District, e.t.c. Three research questions were designed and used to guide this study. The sample population of the study is 30. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and the area of the study is Niger central senatorial zone. The test retest method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument.Based on the findings, recommendations were made which include that; There is need for good preventive maintenance through regular inspections to avoid breakdowns and repairs, which costs more, There is need for public awareness on the danger of lack of maintenance and the advantages of good maintenance, Laws enforcing every occupant to carry out proper maintenance should be enacted and agencies to enforce the law should be established, In order to avoid the use of sub-standard materials as an alternative to the high cost of good quality materials, there should be a research into how the government can help with the local building materials industries in the country to survive.

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

1.2 Statement of problems

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1.4 Significance of the study

1.5 Research questions of the study

1.6 Scope of the study

1.7 Definition of terms

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Mosquito 

2.2 Epidemiology of malaria 

2.3 Studies on the prevalence of malaria 

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design

3.2 Sources of Data

3.3 Population of the study

3.4 Sample size determination

3.5 Instrumentation 

3.6 Reliability

3.7 Validity

3.8 Method of data collection

3.9 Method of data analysis

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Results

4.2 Discussion 

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION  AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

5.2 Recommendation

References 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In poor countries, tragically, people die unnecessarily. This is a concept known and recognized throughout the world that the inhabitants of more developed and rich countries have a better life expectancy compared to the poorest countries. The reasons are not only linked to health care costs that often reflects health systems most technologically advanced and rich resources.

Over the past two to three decades, our understanding of poverty has broadened from a narrow focus on income and consumptions to a multidimensional notion of education, health. social and political participation and rights, personal security and freedom, and environmental quality. Thus poverty encompasses not just low income, but lack of access services, resources and skills, vulnerability, insecurity, voicelessness and powerlessness. Multidimensional poverty is a determinant of health risks, health-seeking behavior, health care access and health outcomes.

An estimated 70% of the world’s poor are women. Similarly, in the Western Pacific Region, poverty often wears a woman’s face. Indicators of human poverty, including health indicators, often reflect severe gender – based disparity. In this way, gender inequality is a significant determinant of health outcomes in the Region, with women and girls often at a severe social disadvantage.

Malaria remains a global public health problem. Approximately 40% of the world’s population lives in more than 140 countries at risk of malaria. In the Western Pacific Region, Malaria is endemic in 10 countries. In Africa malaria is endemic in more than 30 countries. The strategies employed to prevent and control malaria have been effective in reducing the burden of disease in many countries. Yet, as analyses of health outcomes become more refined, it is increasingly evident that poor and marginalized populations might not be benefiting from investments in malaria prevention and control.

In areas of high malaria transmission (stable transmission areas), repeated malaria infections provide inhabitants with partial immunity. In contrast, unstable malaria areas are characterized by outbreaks and irregular epidemics among people with low immunity. In stable and unstable areas, pregnant women and children under 5 years old are at greatest risk of the most severe clinical symptoms of malaria. This is because a woman’s immunity is temporarily depressed during pregnancy, while the immune system of small children is not fully developed.

Statement of the problem

Malaria is caused by four different protozoa in the plasmodium genus: either Plasmodium Vivax, which is more prevalent in low endemic areas, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malaria, and the Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four. The Plasmodium falciparum has a life cycle in the mosquito vector and also in the human host. The anopheles gambiae mosquito is the vector responsible for the transmission of malaria. The prevalence of malaria is dependent on the abundance of the female anopheles species, the propensity of the mosquito to bite, the rate at which it bites, its longevity and the rate of development of the plasmodium parasite inside the mosquito. When the female mosquito bites and sucks the blood of a person infected with malaria parasites she becomes infected; she then transmits the parasites to the next human host she bites. Malaria incubates in the human host for about eight to ten days. The spread of malaria needs conditions favorable to the survival of the mosquito and the plasmodium parasite. Temperatures of approximately 70 - 90 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of at least 60 percent are most conducive for the mosquito. The development of the malarial parasite inside the mosquito is more rapid as the temperature rises and ceases entirely below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Increased rainfall and stagnant pools of water or surface water provide hospitable breeding grounds for the mosquito. It is important to understand how malaria transmission is affected using the “ basic reproduction number.” In an entirely susceptible host (non-immune) population from each primary malaria infection arises a varying number of secondary infections, referred to as the Basic Reproductive Number. That number is directly proportional to the populations’ risk for contracting malaria and can be increased by the following factors: an increase in the abundance of mosquitoes relative to the human population, an increase in the propensity of the mosquito to bite its human host, an increase in the proportion of the infective mosquito bites, an increase in the length of illness and an increase in survival rates or longevity of the mosquito.

Objectives of the Study

1. To determine if respondents in Niger Central Senatorial districts have knowledge about Malaria transmission.

2. To determine if respondents in Niger Central Senatorial district have knowledge on various malaria prevention methods.

Research Questions

1) Do people in Niger Central Senatorial districts have knowledge about Malaria transmission?

2) Do people in Niger Central Senatorial district have knowledge on various malaria prevention method?

Significance of the study

 It will help Niger State Government to find a way of providing good policies enhance good health practice among landlords in Niger Central Senatorial District.

 It will enhance the respondents in Niger Central Senatorial District to be acquainted with knowledge on good health practice in Niger Central Senatorial District.