Malaria has been the focus of multiple declarations, and a range of targets have been set since the beginning of the millennium. Poor people are at increased risk of both becoming infected with malaria as well as becoming infected more frequently. Malaria is also a major contributor to deaths among hospital inpatients in Africa. The purpose of this research is to employ geospatial techniques to map out areas that are vulnerable to malaria breeding vectors using weighted multi-criteria decision analysis to determine the risk levels within the study area and to determine the factors influencing the population at risk of malaria with a view to providing an effective malaria management. Malaria incidence records were used to determine the incidence rate of the disease from 2014 2016 and the rate of severity and total confirmed cases of the disease occurrence during the study period. Malaria risk map which was produced through the integration of malaria hazard map, vulnerability map and elements at risk map was used to determine the most susceptible areas to malaria attacks in the study area.
The results from the research showed about 87% of the entire study area being at high risk of malaria attack. It is observed that there is an increasing trend of malaria cases in the study area despite its variability over the years of this study. It can be concluded that the study area as a whole is prone to malaria infestation and this requires immense attention in order to mitigate the scourge of the disease and its vector. It will be cost effective if GIS and remote sensing could be integrated in monitoring and early warning system in the ongoing malaria control and prevention activities especially in Nassarawa and Kumbotso local government areas that have a very high risk of malaria attacks. There is also the need to research more on the relationship between malaria prevalence and some key socio-anthropogenic factors such as literacy level, income level, HIV status, pregnancy status, etc and meteorological factors.
Key words: Malaria Risk; Vulnerability; Hazard; weighted multi-criteria decision analysis
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