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An Assessment of Utilization of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria among Pregnant Women in Lusaka Province of Zambia

Maybin Kalubula and Xiao Feng Li

Malaria in pregnancy is one of the major global health concerns more especially in malaria-endemic regions where an estimated 30 million pregnancies occur every year. Malaria infection in pregnancy is a major risk factor for maternal and child health. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the utilization and determinants of IPT of malaria by pregnant women in the rural and urban districts of Lusaka Province of Zambia. Four health centers in each study setting were conveniently selected. A systematic sampling technique was then applied to select the sample from the rural and urban health centers. Full IPT utilization was low in Lusaka Province. There was no significant difference between rural and urban levels of full utilization of IPT/SP in the Province (P = 0.288). There was however, a significant association between availability of fansidar in health facilities and IPT utilization in Lusaka (P = 0.012) while Chongwe showed insignificant association (P = 0.373). This study demonstrated that utilization levels of IPT/SP of malaria were very low in both the rural and urban districts despite the availability of Fansidar in health facilities. Education level and economic status were not significant factors for pregnant women to utilize IPT/SP services.