Browsing by Author "Rumisha, S. F."

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Participatory involvement of farming communities and public sectors in determining malaria control strategies in Mvomero district, Tanzania
(Tanzania Health Research Bulletin, 2006) Mlozi, M. R. S.; Shayo, E. H.; Senkoro, K. P.; Mayala, B. K.; Rumisha, S. F.; Mutayoba, B.; Senkondo, E.; Maerere, A.; Mboera, L. E. G.
Addressing the malaria-agriculture linkages requires a broad inter-disciplinary and integrated approach that involves farming communities and key public sectors. In this paper, we report results of participatory involvement of farming communities in determining malaria control strategies in Mvomero District, Tanzania. A seminar involving local government leaders, health and agricultural officials comprising of a total of 27 participants was held. Public meetings in villages of Komtonga, Mbogo, Mkindo, Dihombo and Luhindo followed this. Findings from a research on the impact of agricultural practices on malaria burden in the district were shared with local communities, public sector officials and other key stakeholders as a basis for a participatory discussion. The community and key stakeholders had an opportunity to critically examine the linkages between agricultural practices and malaria in their villages and to identify problems and propose practical solutions. Several factors were identified as bottlenecks in the implementation of malaria control in the area. Lack of community participation and decision making in malaria interventions was expressed as among the major constraints. This denied the community the opportunities of determining their health priorities and accessing knowledge needed to effectively implement malaria interventions. In conclusion, this paper emphasizes the importance of participatory approach that involves community and other key stakeholders in malaria control using an ecosystem approach. An interdisciplinary and integrated approach is needed to involve farmers and more than one sector in malaria control effort.
Spatio-temporal variation in malaria transmission intensity in five agro-ecosystems in Mvomero district, Tanzania
(Geospatial Health, 2010) Mboera, L. E. G.; Senkoro, K. P.; Mayala, B. K.; Rumisha, S. F.; Rwegoshora, R. T.; Mlozi, M. R. S.; Shayo, E. S.
In Africa, malaria is predominantly a rural disease where agriculture forms the backbone of the economy. V arious agro-ecosystems and crop production systems have an impact on mosquito productivity, and hence malaria transmission intensity. This study was carried out to determine spatial and temporal variations in anopheline mosquito population and malaria transmission intensity in five villages, representing different agro-ecosystems in Mvomero dis- trict, Tanzania, so as to provide baseline information for malaria interventions. The agro-ecosystems consisted of irri- gated sugarcane, flooding rice irrigation, non-flooding rice irrigation, wet savannah and dry savannah. In each setting, adult mosquitoes were sampled monthly using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps from August 2004 to July 2005. A total of 35,702 female mosquitoes were collected. Anopheles gambiae sensu lato was the most abundant (58.9%) mosquito species. An. funestus accounted for 12.0% of the mosquitoes collected. There was a substantial village to village variation and seasonality in the density of Anopheles mosquito population, with peaks in May towards the end of the warm and rainy season. Significantly larger numbers of anophelines were collected from tra- ditional flooding rice irrigation ecosystem (70.7%) than in non-flooding rice irrigation (8.6%), sugarcane (7.0%), wet savannah (7.3%) and dry savannah (6.4%). The overall sporozoite rates for An. gambiae and An. funestus were 3.4% and 2.3%, respectively. The combined overall sporozoite rate ( An. gambiae + An. funestus ) was 3.2%. The mean annual entomological inoculation rate (EIR) for An. gambiae s.l. was 728 infective bites per person per year and this was sig- nificantly higher in traditional flooding rice irrigation (1351) than in other agro-ecosystems. The highest EIRs for An. gambiae s.l. and An. funestus were observed during May 2005 (long rainy season) and December 2004 (short rainy sea- son), respectively. The findings support the evidence that malaria transmission risk varies even between neighbouring vil- lages and is influenced by agro-ecosystems. This study therefore, demonstrates the need to generate spatial and tempo- ral data on transmission intensity on smaller scales taking into consideration agro-ecosystems that will identify area-spe- cific transmission intensity to guide targeted control of malaria operations.