Evaluation of a urogenital schistosomiasis behavioural intervention among students from rural schools in Unguja and Pemba islands, Zanzibar.

Urogenital schistosomiasis is a common experience among children in Zanzibar. There is a paucity of behavioural science-based, health education and behaviour change (HEBC) interventions for school-aged children, those at greatest risk for urogenital schistosomiasis. We assessed the influence of a HEBC intervention, guided by the Health Belief model, among rural schoolchildren on Pemba and Unguja islands in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

COMMUNITY CO-DESIGNED SCHISTOSOMIASIS CONTROL INTERVENTIONS FOR SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN IN ZANZIBAR.

Top-down biomedical interventions to control schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa have had limited success, primarily because they fail to engage with the social, political, economic and ecological contexts in which they are delivered. Despite the call to foster community engagement and to adapt interventions to local circumstances, programmes have rarely embraced such an approach. This article outlines a community co-designed process, based upon Human-Centered Design, to demonstrate how this approach works in practice.

Community Knowledge, Perceptions, and Practices Associated with Urogenital Schistosomiasis among School-Aged Children in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania.

Background: On the Zanzibar islands, United Republic of Tanzania, elimination of urogenital schistosomiasis is strived for in the coming years. This qualitative study aimed to better understand community knowledge, perceptions, and practices associated with schistosomiasis among school-aged children on Unguja and Pemba islands, in order to inform the development of behavior change interventions contributing to eliminate urogenital schistosomiasis.

Methodology: In 2011, we conducted 35 children's discussion groups, 41 in-depth interviews with parents and teachers, and 5 focus group discussions with community members in Zanzibar.