Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T10:04:55.178Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social science perspectives on schistosomiasis control in Africa: past trends and future directions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2009

J. AAGAARD-HANSEN ,
J. R. MWANGA  and
B. BRUUN
J. AAGAARD-HANSEN*
Affiliation:
DBL – Centre for Health Research and Development, Faculty of Life Sciences, Thorvaldsensvej 57, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
J. R. MWANGA
Affiliation:
National Institute for Medical Research, P. O. Box 1462, Mwanza, Tanzania
B. BRUUN
Affiliation:
DBL – Centre for Health Research and Development, Faculty of Life Sciences, Thorvaldsensvej 57, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author. Tel: +45 3533-1414. Fax: +45 3533-1433. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

New ways of integrating and scaling up control of neglected tropical diseases (including schistosomiasis) are presently underway. In this context consideration of social science perspectives is essential. In this article, we review social science publications of relevance to sustained control of schistosomiasis in Africa including diagnosis and screening, treatment, supply of clean water and improved sanitation, as well as health communication. Studies of community involvement and links between schistosomiasis control programmes and broader health care systems are also explored. Directions for future social science of relevance to sustainable schistosomiasis control are outlined, including ways of ensuring equitable access to health services as well as involvement of endemic communities and local health care systems based on equal partnership.

Keywords

Africacommunity involvementcontroldiagnosishealth communicationhealth systemsschistosomiasissocial sciencetreatmentwater and sanitation
Type
SECTION 3 PROGRAMMATIC OPTIMISATION OF DRUG DELIVERY
Information
Parasitology , Volume 136 , Special Issue 13: Control of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa , November 2009 , pp. 1747 - 1758
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ainsworth, M. and Filmer, D. (2002). Poverty, AIDS and Children's Schooling: A Targeting Dilemma. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2885, World Bank.Google Scholar
Asaolu, S. O. and Ofoezie, I. E. (2003). The role of health education and sanitation in the control of helminth infections. Acta Tropica 86, 283–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ault, S. K. (1994). Environmental management: a re-emerging vector control strategy. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 50 (Suppl.), 35–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boelee, E. and Laamrani, H. (2004). Environmental control of schistosomiasis through community participation in a Moroccan oasis. Tropical Medicine and International Health 9, 997–1004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooker, S., Kabatereine, N. B., Gyapong, J. O., Stothard, J. R. and Utzinger, J. (2009). Rapid assessment of schistosomiasis and other neglected tropical diseases in the context of integrated control programmes in Africa. Parasitology 136 (same issue).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooker, S., Marriot, H., Hall, A., Adjei, S., Allan, E., Maier, C., Bundy, D. A., Drake, L. J., Coombes, M. D., Azene, G., Lansdown, R. G., Wen, S. T., Dzodozmenyo, M., Cobbinah, J., Obro, N., Kihamia, C. M., Issae, W., Mwanri, L., Mweta, M. R., Mwaikemwa, A., Salimu, M., Nitimbwa, P., Kiwelu, V. M., Turuka, A., Nkungu, D. R., Magingo, J. and Partnership for Child Development (2001). Community perception of school-based delivery of anthelmintics in Ghana and Tanzania. Tropical Medicine and International Health 6, 1075–1083.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bruun, B. and Aagaard-Hansen, J. (2008). The Social Context of Schistosomiasis and its Control. An Introduction and Annotated Bibliography. Geneva: UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).Google Scholar
Chandiwana, S. K., Taylor, P. and Matanhire, D. (1991). Community control of schistosomiasis in Zimbabwe. Central African Journal of Medicine 37, 69–77.Google ScholarPubMed
Chimbari, M., Ndlela, B., Nyati, Z., Thomson, A., Chandiwana, S. K. and Bolton, P. (1992). Bilharzia in a small irrigation community: an assessment of water and toilet usage. Central African Journal of Medicine 38, 451–458.Google Scholar
Clark, T. E., Appleton, C. C. and Kvalsvig, J. D. (1997). Schistosomiasis and the use of indigenous plant molluscicides: a rural South African perspective. Acta Tropica 66, 93–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cline, B. L. (1995). The slow fix: communities, research, and disease control. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 52, 1–7.Google Scholar
Cline, B. L. and Hewlett, B. S. (1996). Community-based approach to schistosomiasis control. Acta Tropica 61, 107–119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Danso-Appiah, A., de Vlas, S. J., Bosompem, K. M. and Habbema, J. D. (2004). Determinants of health-seeking behaviour for schistosomiasis-related symptoms in the context of integrating schistosomiasis control within the regular health services in Ghana. Tropical Medicine and International Health 9, 784–794.Google Scholar
de Vlas, S. J., Danso-Appiah, A., van der Werf, M. J., Bosompem, K. M. and Habbema, J. D. (2004). Quantitative evaluation of integrated schistosomiasis control: the example of passive case finding in Ghana. Tropical Medicine and International Health 9, A16–A21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
El Katsha, S. and Watts, S. (1994). A model for health education. World Health Forum 15, 29–33.Google Scholar
El Katsha, S. and Watts, S. (1995 a). The public health implications of the increasing predominance of Schistosoma mansoni in Egypt: a pilot study in the Nile delta. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 98, 136–140.Google ScholarPubMed
El Katsha, S. and Watts, S. (1995 b). Schistosomiasis control through rural health units. World Health Forum 16, 252–254.Google Scholar
El Katsha, S. and Watts, S. (1997). Schistosomiasis in two Nile delta villages: an anthropological perspective. Tropical Medicine and International Health 2, 846–854.Google Scholar
El Katsha, S. and Watts, S. (1998). Schistosomiasis screening and health education for children: action research in Nile delta villages. Tropical Medicine and International Health 3, 654–660.Google Scholar
El Katsha, S. and Watts, S. (2002). Gender, Behaviour, and Health. Schistosomiasis Transmission and Control in Rural Egypt. Cairo & New York: The American University in Cairo Press.Google Scholar
Espino, F., Koops, V. and Manderson, L. (2004). Community Participation and Tropical Disease Control in Resource-poor Settings. No. 2. UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). Special Topics. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Esser, K. B., Semagn, K. and Wolde-Yohannes, L. (2003). Medicinal use and social status of the soap berry endod (Phytolacca dodecandra) in Ethiopia. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 85, 269–277.Google Scholar
Farooq, M., Nielsen, J., Samaan, S. A., Mallah, M. B. and Allam, A. A. (1966). The epidemiology of Schistosoma haematobium and S. mansoni infections in the Egypt-49 project area. 3. Prevalence of bilharziasis in relation to certain environmental factors. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 35, 319–330.Google ScholarPubMed
Feldmeier, H. and Krantz, I. (1993). A synoptic inventory of needs for research on women and tropical parasitic diseases. I. Application to urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis. Acta Tropica 55, 117–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fentiman, A., Hall, A. and Bundy, D. (2001). Health and cultural factors associated with enrolment in basic education: a study in rural Ghana. Social Science and Medicine 52, 429–439.Google Scholar
French, M. D., Rollinson, D., Basáñez, M.-G., Mgeni, A. F., Khamis, S. and Stothard, J. R. (2007). School-based control of urinary schistosomiasis on Zanzibar, Tanzania: Monitoring micro-haematuria with reagent strips as a rapid urological assessment. Journal of Pediatric Urology 3, 364–368.Google Scholar
Garba, A., Aboubacar, A., Barkire, A., Vera, C., Sellin, B. and Chippaux, J. P. (2001). Impact of health education programs on the control of urinary bilharziasis in Niger. Santé 11, 35–42.Google Scholar
Gwatirisa, P. R., Ndamba, J. and Nyazema, N. Z. (1999). The impact of health education on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of a rural community with regards to schistosomiasis control using a plant molluscicide, Phytolacca dodecandra. Central African Journal of Medicine 45, 94–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hewlett, B. S. and Cline, B. L. (1997). Anthropological contributions to a community-based schistosomiasis control project in northern Cameroun. Tropical Medicine and International Health 2, A25–A36.Google Scholar
Huang, Y. and Manderson, L. (1992). Schistosomiasis and the social patterning of infection. Acta Tropica 51, 175–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hunter, J. M. (2003). Inherited burden of disease: agricultural dams and the persistence of bloody urine (Schistosomiasis hematobium) in the Upper East Region of Ghana, 1959–1997. Social Science and Medicine 56, 219–234.Google Scholar
Husein, M. H., Talaat, M., El Sayed, M. K., El Badawi, A. and Evans, D. B. (1996). Who misses out with school-based health programmes? A study of schistosomiasis control in Egypt. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 90, 362–365.Google Scholar
Katabarwa, M. N., Habomugisha, P., Richards, F. O. Jr. and Hopkins, D. (2005). Community-directed interventions strategy enhances efficient and effective integration of health care delivery and development activities in rural disadvantaged communities of Uganda. Tropical Medicine and International Health 10, 312–321.Google Scholar
Katsivo, M. N., Muthami, L. N., Kimani, S., Karama, M. and Kingori, F. (1993). Involvement of a community in schistosomiasis control: a Kenyan experience. East African Medical Journal 70, 478–481.Google Scholar
Kloos, H. (1995). Human behavior, health education and schistosomiasis control: a review. Social Science and Medicine 40, 1497–1511.Google Scholar
Laamrani, H., Khallaayoune, K., Madsen, H., Mahjour, J. and Gryseels, B. (2000 a). New challenges in schistosomiasis control in Morocco. Acta Tropica 77, 61–67.Google Scholar
Laamrani, H., Mahjour, J., Madsen, H., Khallaayoune, K. and Gryseels, B. (2000 b). Schistosoma haematobium in Morocco: moving from control to elimination. Parasitololgy Today 16, 257–260.Google Scholar
Landouré, A., van der Werf, M. J., Traoré, M. and de Vlas, S. J. (2003). Evaluation of case management in the integrated schistosomiasis-control programme in Mali. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 97, 723–736.Google Scholar
Lansdown, R., Ledward, A., Hall, A., Issae, W., Yona, E., Matulu, J., Mweta, M., Kihamia, C., Nyandindi, U. and Bundy, D. (2002). Schistosomiasis, helminth infection and health education in Tanzania: achieving behaviour change in primary schools. Health Education Research 17, 425–433.Google Scholar
Lengeler, C., Utzinger, J. and Tanner, M. (2002). Questionnaires for rapid screening of schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 80, 235–242.Google ScholarPubMed
Mafe, M. A., Appelt, B., Adewale, B., Idowu, E. T., Akinwale, O. P., Adeneye, A. K., Manafa, O. U., Sulyman, M. A., Akande, O. D. and Omotola, B. D. (2005). Effectiveness of different approaches to mass delivery of praziquantel among school-aged children in rural communities in Nigeria. Acta Tropica 93, 181–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mafiana, C. F., Ekpo, U. F. and Ojo, D. A. (2003). Urinary schistosomiasis in preschool children in settlements around Oyan Reservoir in Ogun State, Nigeria: implications for control. Tropical Medicine and International Health 8, 78–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magnussen, P. (2003). Treatment and re-treatment strategies for schistosomiasis control in different epidemiological settings: a review of 10 years' experiences. Acta Tropica 86, 243–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magnussen, P., Ndawi, B., Sheshe, A. K., Byskov, J., Mbwana, K. and Christensen, N. O. (2001). The impact of a school health programme on the prevalence and morbidity of urinary schistosomiasis in Mwera Division, Pangani District, Tanzania. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 95, 58–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mehanna, S., Rizkalla, N. H., el Sayed, H. F. and Winch, P. J. (1994). Social and economic conditions in two newly reclaimed areas in Egypt: implications for schistosomiasis control strategies. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 97, 286–297.Google ScholarPubMed
Mehanna, S., Winch, P. J., Rizkalla, N. H., el Sayed, H. F. and Abaza, S. M. (1997). Factors affecting knowledge of the symptoms of schistosomiasis in two rural areas near Ismailia, Egypt. Tropical Medicine and International Health 2, A36–A47.Google Scholar
Mubyazi, G., Kamugisha, M., Mushi, A. and Blas, E. (2004). Implications of decentralization for the control of tropical diseases in Tanzania: a case study of four districts. International Journal of Health Planning and Management 19 (Suppl.), S167–S185.Google ScholarPubMed
Muela, S. H., Mushi, A. K. and Ribera, J. M. (2000). The paradox of the cost and affordability of traditional and government health services in Tanzania. Health Policy and Planning 15, 296–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mwanga, J. R. (2004). Community-integrated and action-oriented health education intervention on schistosomiasis and other illnesses among children of primary school-going age in Magu district, Tanzania. PhD thesis. Mwanza/Copenhagen/Charlottenlund: National Institute for Medical Research/Danish University of Education/Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory.Google Scholar
Mwanga, J. R., Magnussen, P., Mugashe, C. L., Gabone, R. M. and Aagaard-Hansen, J. (2004). Schistosomiasis-related perceptions, attitudes and treatment-seeking practices in Magu district, Tanzania: public health implications. Journal of Biosocial Science 36, 63–81.Google Scholar
Ndamba, J., Chandiwana, S. K. and Makaza, N. (1989). Knowledge, attitudes and practices among rural communities in Zimbabwe in relation to Phytolacca dodecandra – a plant molluscicide. Social Science and Medicine 28, 1249–1253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ndyomugyenyi, R. and Kabatereine, N. (2003). Integrated community-directed treatment for the control of onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths infections in Uganda: advantages and disadvantages. Tropical Medicine and International Health 8, 997–1004.Google Scholar
Noda, S., Shimada, M., Muhoho, N. D., Sato, K., Kiliku, F. B., Gatika, S. M., Waiyaki, P. G. and Aoki, Y. (1997). Effect of piped water supply on human water contact patterns in a Schistosoma haematobium-endemic area in Coast Province, Kenya. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 56, 118–126.Google Scholar
Nsowah-Nuamah, N. N., Mensah, G., Aryeetey, M. E., Wagatsuma, Y. and Bentil, G. (2001). Urinary schistosomiasis in southern Ghana: a logistic regression approach to data from a community-based integrated control program. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 65, 484–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nwaorgu, O. C., Okeibunor, J., Madu, E., Amazigo, U., Onyegegbu, N. and Evans, D. (1998). A school-based schistosomiasis and intestinal helminthiasis control programme in Nigeria: acceptability to community members. Tropical Medicine and International Health 3, 842–849.Google Scholar
Odogwu, S. E., Ramamurthy, N. K., Kabatereine, N. B., Kazibwe, F., Tukahebwa, E., Webster, J. P., Fenwick, A. and Stothard, J. R. (2006). Schistosoma mansoni in infants (aged <3 years) along the Ugandan shoreline of Lake Victoria. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 100, 315–326.Google Scholar
Olsen, A. (1998). The proportion of helminth infections in a community in western Kenya which would be treated by mass chemotherapy of schoolchildren. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 92, 144–148.Google Scholar
Parker, M., Allen, T. and Hastings, J. (2008). Resisting control of neglected diseases: dilemmas in the mass treatment of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthes in northwest Uganda. Journal of Biosocial Science 40, 161–180.Google Scholar
Porter, J., Ogden, J. and Pronyk, P. (1999). Infectious disease policy: towards the production of health. Health Policy and Planning 14, 322–328.Google Scholar
Red Urine Study Group (1995). Identification of High-risk Communities for Schistosomiasis in Africa: A Multicountry Study. Geneva: UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR).Google Scholar
Reich, M. R. and Govindaraj, R. (1998). Dilemmas in drug development for tropical diseases. Experiences with praziquantel. Health Policy 44, 1–18.Google Scholar
Sayed, H. A., el Dusoki, H. H., el Ayyat, A. A., Kamel, L. M., Tawfik, S. A., el Nahal, H. S., Sabry, H. Y. and Amer, N. M. (2000). Assessment of the diagnostic system of Schistosoma infection at rural health unit level, Egypt. Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology 30, 487–503.Google Scholar
Shiffman, J., Beer, T. and Wu, Y. (2002). The emergence of global disease control priorities. Health Policy and Planning 17, 225–234.Google Scholar
Sow, S., de Vlas, S. J., Mbaye, A., Polman, K. and Gryseels, B. (2003). Low awareness of intestinal schistosomiasis in northern Senegal after 7 years of health education as part of intense control and research activities. Tropical Medicine and International Health 8, 744–749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sow, S., Polman, K., Vereecken, K., Vercruysse, J., Gryssels, B. and de Vlas, S. J. (2008). The role of hygienic bathing after defecation in the transmission of Schistosoma mansoni. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 102, 542–547.Google Scholar
Stothard, J. R. and Gabrielli, A. F. (2007). Schistosomiasis in African infants and preschool children: to treat or not to treat? Trends in Parasitology 32, 83–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talaat, M., Omar, M. and Evans, D. (1999). Developing strategies to control schistosomiasis morbidity in non-enrolled school-age children: experience from Egypt. Tropical Medicine and International Health 4, 551–556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talaat, M., Watts, S., Mekheimar, S., Farook, A. H. and Hamed, H. (2004). The social context of reproductive health in an Egyptian hamlet: a pilot study to identify female genital schistosomiasis. Social Science and Medicine 58, 515–524.Google Scholar
Taylor, M., Coovadia, H. M., Kvalsvig, J. D., Jinabhai, C. C. and Reddy, P. (1999). Helminth control as an entry point for health-promoting schools in KwaZulu-Natal. South African Medical Journal 89, 273–279.Google Scholar
Tchuem Tchuenté, L. A., Southgate, V. R., Webster, B. L., De Bont, J. and Vercruysse, J. (2001). Impact of installation of a water pump on schistosomiasis transmission in a focus in Cameroon. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 95, 255–256.Google Scholar
Traoré, M. (1989). Schistosomiasis in the Sélingué dam area: the integrated approach. Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 40, 228–231.Google Scholar
UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO TDR (2008). Community-directed Interventions for Major Health Problems in Africa. A Multi-Country Study. Final Report. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Useh, M. F. and Ejezie, G. C. (1999). School-based schistosomiasis control programmes: a comparative study on the prevalence and intensity of urinary schistosomiasis among Nigerian school-age children in and out of school. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 93, 387–391.Google Scholar
Utzinger, J., Bergquist, R., Shu-Hua, X., Singer, B. H. and Tanner, M. (2003). Sustainable schistosomiasis control – the way forward. Lancet 362, 1932–1934.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van der Werf, M. J., Borsboom, G. J. and de Vlas, S. J. (2003). No effect of recall period length on prevalence of self-reported haematuria in Schistosoma haematobium-endemic areas. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 97, 373–374.Google Scholar
van der Werf, M. J., de Vlas, S. J., Landoure, A., Bosompem, K. M. and Habbema, J. D. (2004). Measuring schistosomiasis case management of the health services in Ghana and Mali. Tropical Medicine and International Health 9, 149–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van der Werf, M. J., Mbaye, A., Sow, S., Gryseels, B. and de Vlas, S. J. (2002). Evaluation of staff performance and material resources for integrated schistosomiasis control in northern Senegal. Tropical Medicine and International Health 7, 70–79.Google Scholar
Vlassoff, C. and Bonilla, E. (1994). Gender-related differences in the impact of tropical diseases on women: what do we know? Journal of Biosocial Science 26, 37–53.Google Scholar
Watts, S., Khallaayoune, K., Benselia, R., Laamrani, H. and Gryseels, B. (1998). The study of human behavior and schistosomiasis transmission in an irrigated area in Morocco. Social Science and Medicine 46, 755–765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, G. F., Bradley, D. J. and White, A. U. (1972). Drawers of Water. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
WHO (2002). Prevention and Control of Schistosomiasis and Soil-transmitted Helminthiasis. Report of a WHO Expert Committee. Geneva, World Health Organization Technical Report Series 912, i–57.Google Scholar
WHO (2006). Preventive Chemotherapy in Human Helminthiasis. Co-ordinated Use of Anthelmintic Drugs in Control Interventions: A Manual for Health Professionals and Programme Managers. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1–62.Google Scholar
WHO and UNICEF (1978). Declaration of Alma-Ata. WHO Chronicle 32, 428–430.Google Scholar
Wood, S., Sawyer, R. and Simpson-Hebért, M. (1998). PHAST step-by-step guide: a participatory approach for the control of diarrhoeal diseases. Geneva: World Health Organization (Unpublished document. WHO/EOS/98.3).Google Scholar