Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of People towards Onchocerciasis among Local People Living in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study is aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitude and practice of people in Ija-Gwari and Kofa in Niger State towards onchocerciasis, structured questionnaires were administered to 300 respondents comprising 150 from each of the village, which is about 5% of the total population size of the two villages. The sampling technique used to administer the questionnaire was systemic sampling method. In Kofa and Ija-Gwari village, a high proportion 74 (49.3%) and 80 (53.3%) respectively thought it was both a blood and an eye infection while few of the respondents 8 (5.3%) and 2 (1.45%) respectively claimed to have no idea of river blindness. In Kofa village, out of 150 respondents, 146 (97.3%) said they accepted taking the drug and 4 (2.7%) did not accept taking the drug. In Ija-Gwari village out of 150 respondents, 144 (95.9%) said they accepted taking the drug and 6 (4.1%) did not accept taking the drug. In Kofa village, out of the 150 respondents, 148 (98.7%) use ivermectin as the type of treatment, while In Ija-Gwari village, out of the 150 respondents 149 (99.3%) use ivermectin as the type of treatment. Since lack of knowledge perpetuates disease, appropriate health education strategy will be necessary to improve the situation.