Caregivers, community leaders and health workers' perspectives on the effectiveness of perennial malaria chemoprevention in Osun state, Nigeria: A qualitative study in process evaluation

Authors: Michael Ekholuenetale, Olusola Oresanya, Chinazo Ujuju, Nnenna Ogbulafor, Olufemi Oroge, Rufai-Ahmed Garba, Semiu Adebayo Rahman, Kolawole Maxwell, Ridwan Akorede Awosanya, Mary Abose Adekola, Benjamin Bukky Ilesanmi, Adekemi Ajayi, Oluyemi Aduke Ogundun, James K Tibenderana

Caregivers, community leaders and health workers perceived perennial malaria chemoprevention as effective in reducing malaria among children, enhancing community participation and alleviating the disease burden through sustained preventive health engagement.

Nigeria has the highest burden of malaria globally, accounting for 25.9 percent of cases, 31.9 percent of malaria-related deaths and 39.3 percent of deaths among children under five. To prevent malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends perennial malaria chemoprevention (PMC) for infants and young children in areas with year-round, moderate-to-high malaria transmission.

PMC can be an effective means of preventing malaria in children, but to date has not been widely adopted into policy by many countries. PMC is mainly provided to children using the Essential Programme on Immunization (EPI) platform as recommended by WHO. The objectives of the study were to explore the perceptions of parents and caregivers of children under 24 months, community leaders and health workers on PMC implementation acceptability and uptake.

This poster was presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, held on 9-13 November in Toronto, Canada.