In our fifth question of the common matters campaign, we now aim to collect opinions about malaria testing in collaboration with HEPS Uganda.
Malaria is still one of the major diseases affecting families all over Uganda. Testing a blood sample is the most conclusive way to know whether one has malaria or not. This can be done by a health worker or at home, using a testing kit. Testing malaria makes treatment more effective and allows for other treatment options when one does not have malaria, as only one in three cases of fever is actually malaria. However, based on numbers from the Ministry of Health, only 60% of the people do tests for Malaria.
When asked: Why don’t people go for a Malaria test? here are the final results from a poll question that ran on 8 radio stations across the country and receiving over 3200 responses.
32% - They don’t need a test, because they know if they have malaria or not
24% - The tests are too expensive
23% - People don’t know there is a test
21% - The tests are not available
At the end of the poll question, each radio station held an on-air debate about the results with representatives from HEPS Uganda and various duty bearers in the studio.
