Abstract

Background: Vector borne diseases (VBDs) account for 17% of the estimated global burden of all infectious diseases. The most deadly VBD, malaria caused an estimated 627,000 deaths in 2012. The world’s fastest growing VBD is dengue, with a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over last 50 years.

Objective: To create awareness about common VBDs in the villages through village volunteers and educate them about the measures to prevent the occurrence of the disease by community participation and behavioral change communication and to assess the impact of educational intervention.

Materials and Methods: This study was community-based longitudinal study conducted in five villages in the rural field practice area of Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool. Sample of 50 houses examined in each village before intervention and reexamined after conducting five educational intervention sessions with 1 week gap between each session for a total period of 5 weeks to assess the impact.

Result: A total of 250 villagers and public health workers from five villages participated in both pre-educational and post-educational intervention. There was significant improvement in the habits such as avoiding sleeping, cleaning water containers weekly, and covering of water storage tanks with lids.

Conclusion: It is concluded that with the intensified efforts toward creating a public awareness about VBDs, the measures taken to control vectors other than personal protection measures suggested that health education interventions are effective and remain a valuable tool in community-based vector prevention and control interventions.

Key words: Vector borne diseases, rural areas, awareness, preventive measures