Targeting school children for tropical diseases control: preliminary findings from a socio-behaviour research in Nigeria.

This paper reports one study carried out among school children in Nigeria to investigate some of the social and behaviour factors contributing to the transmission of malaria, guineaworm, schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis. Data were gathered from 1310 secondary school children in a rural community. Analysis of data revealed that 70% of students wash and fetch water in the streams and ponds for domestic purposes. More than 70% claimed that their drinking water was pipe borne even though we knew that the taps had been dry for months. Only 29% specified streams, wells, ponds and water holes as sources of water supply. More than 30% claimed to treat their water before drinking in their homes. There is evidence from home visits in the community that a large proportion of the population do very little to improve the quality of drinking water before consumption. With the exception of malaria, the student's knowledge on the causes and prevention of schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis and guineaworm is virtually nil. All of these had implications for an educational intervention plan which was the next phase of the project.