Résumé :
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[BDSP. Notice produite par INIST RLR0x9Qu. Diffusion soumise à autorisation]. An important aspect of malaria control strategies has been the use of prophylactic measures such as impregnated bednets ; however, adoption of this strategy has been slow and uneven. This study considers the factors determining Permethrin Impregnated Bednets (PIB) use in the context of a PIB promotion project in a rural area of Benin undertaken between 1992 and 1995. Quantitative data, on socio-demographic characteristics, malaria knowledge, attitudes, and practices, were gathered from 191 households of PIB users and non-users for comparative purposes using a questionnaire format. Qualitative data were collected from 23 focus group discussion sessions and 16 semi structured interviews. Women's income, men's educational level, and women's participation in communal organizations were the principal variables distinguishing user households from non-user households. Recourse to non-western medicine and, in particular, to medicinal teas which are considered preventive or curative correlates negatively with PIB use. The qualitative data shows that informants consider exposure to the sun, especially while engaged in agriculture work, a principal cause of malaria, and that PIB adoption is not considered justified in a context where there is a quasi chronic shortage of financial resources and where confidence in the efficacy of non-western medicine prevails. (...)
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