Exploring public awareness of the current and future malaria risk zones in South Africa under climate change: a pilot st
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SPECIAL ISSUE: BIOMETEOROLOGICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE STUDENTS & NEW PROFESSIONALS OF THE ISB
Exploring public awareness of the current and future malaria risk zones in South Africa under climate change: a pilot study Jennifer M Fitchett 1
&
Deryn-Anne Swatton 1
Received: 22 April 2020 / Revised: 20 October 2020 / Accepted: 29 October 2020 # ISB 2020
Abstract Although only a small proportion of the landmass of South Africa is classified as high risk for malaria, the country experiences on-going challenges relating to malaria outbreaks. Climate change poses a growing threat to this already dire situation. While considerable effort has been placed in public health campaigns in the highest-risk regions, and national malaria maps are updated to account for changing climate, malaria cases have increased. This pilot study considers the sub-population of South Africans who reside outside of the malaria area, yet have the means to travel into this high-risk region for vacation. Through the lens of the governmental “ABC of malaria prevention”, we explore this sub-population’s awareness of the current boundaries to the malaria area, perceptions of the future boundary under climate change, and their risk-taking behaviours relating to malaria transmission. Findings reveal that although respondents self-report a high level of awareness regarding malaria, and their boundary maps reveal the broad pattern of risk distribution, their specifics on details are lacking. This includes over-estimating both the current and future boundaries, beyond the realms of climate-topographic possibility. Despite over-estimating the region of malaria risk, the respondents reveal an alarming lack of caution when travelling to malaria areas. Despite being indicated for high-risk malaria areas, the majority of respondents did not use chemoprophylaxis, and many relied on far less-effective measures. This may in part be due to respondents relying on information from friends and family, rather than medical or governmental advice. Keywords Vector-borne disease . Malaria . Mapping . Risk aversion . Climate change
Introduction Malaria is a dangerous and potentially fatal vector-borne disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite, transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito (Cohuet et al. 2010; Cella et al. 2019). In 2018, an estimated 228 million cases of malaria were reported globally, similar to 231 million cases for 2017, with a death toll of ~ 435,000 in 2017 and 405,000 in 2018 (Alonso and Noor 2017; WHO 2019a,b). The burden of malaria was disproportionately borne by developing nations, particularly in the African continent, which accounted for 92% and 93% of the malaria cases and deaths recorded in 2018, respectively
* Jennifer M Fitchett [email protected] 1
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
(Alonso and Noor 2017; WHO 2019b). In 2016, in an effort to combat malaria, the World Health Organization launched the E-2020 ini
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