1. High Mobility and Low Use of Malaria Preventive Measures Among the Jarai Male Youth Along the Cambodia?Vietnam Border
- Author
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Annette Erhart, Sambunny Uk, Charlotte Gryseels, Suzan Trienekens, Susan Dierickx, Tho Sochantha, Koen Peeters Grietens, Joan Muela Ribera, Umberto D'Alessandro, Xa Nguyen Xuan, Susanna Hausmann-Muela, Marc Coosemans, René Gerrets, Melanie Bannister-Tyrrell, and Anthropology of Health, Care and the Body (AISSR, FMG)
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Adolescent ,Population ,Adult population ,Ethnic group ,Vulnerability ,Young Adult ,Malaria transmission ,Environmental protection ,Virology ,Malaria elimination ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,Humans ,Malaria, Falciparum ,Socioeconomics ,education ,Child ,education.field_of_study ,Mosquito Nets ,biology ,Anopheles ,Articles ,Emigration and Immigration ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Malaria ,Infectious Diseases ,Geography ,Vietnam ,Parasitology ,Female ,Human medicine ,Cambodia - Abstract
Malaria control along the Vietnam?Cambodia border presents a challenge for both countries' malaria elimination targets as the region is forested, inhabited by ethnic minority populations, and potentially characterized by early and outdoor malaria transmission. A mixed methods study assessed the vulnerability to malaria among the Jarai population living on both sides of the border in the provinces of Ratanakiri (Cambodia) and Gia Lai (Vietnam). A qualitative study generated preliminary hypotheses that were quantified in two surveys, one targeting youth (N = 498) and the other household leaders (N = 449). Jarai male youth, especially in Cambodia, had lower uptake of preventive measures (57.4%) and more often stayed overnight in the deep forest (35.8%) compared with the female youth and the adult population. Among male youth, a high-risk subgroup was identified that regularly slept at friends' homes or outdoors, who had fewer bed nets (32.5%) that were torn more often (77.8%). The vulnerability of Jarai youth to malaria could be attributed to the transitional character of youth itself, implying less fixed sleeping arrangements in nonpermanent spaces or non-bed sites. Additional tools such as long-lasting hammock nets could be suitable as they are in line with current practices., American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 93(4), pp.810-818; 2015
- Published
- 2015